August 31, 2026
President Tinubu
Nigerians paying close attention to the emerging 2027 presidential campaign would by now have the sense, as I have, that this election will be very different from previous ones. We are only a few weeks in, no doubt, but it seems clear enough that this election will be fought on policy and strategic voter engagement. These two things have always been at the margins of our elections, but thus far, they are clearly defining the presidential contest, at least.
The key difference is former Vice‐Presi- dent Atiku Abubakar, who is running perhaps the most sophisticated campaign of his long political career. So far, Atiku has successfully turned the election from an apparent coronation into an open contest by asking Nigerians a simple but resonant question: How has the Tinubu government worked out for you? Moreover, Atiku has achieved this strategic shift not with mere talking points, but with clear policy messaging. Where President Tinubu insists that his painful reforms are working, Atiku has offered a sharply different vision of those reforms, and voters are paying attention. More specific to today’s discussion, Atiku is personally leading the communication of his own campaign messaging by speaking forcefully and with conviction about his policies, and by en- gaging Nigerians directly via a series of strategic media interviews and town halls so far.
