Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, National Chairman of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) and a former Special Adviser on Political Matters to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has warned that Nigeria risks profound instability if the president secures re-election in 2027 without a fundamental change in governance direction.
Speaking in an interview on Saturday, Baba-Ahmed said the country is enduring one of its most difficult periods, citing deteriorating security, unprecedented poverty levels, and a deepening sense of social fragmentation. He argued that the administration has become detached from ordinary Nigerians, and that the consequences of a second term under current conditions could be severe.
“We have never been in a war situation more than we are now. We have a government that is too removed from the people,” he said. “They don’t really understand the state in which Nigerians live. We are living with the highest level of insecurity that we have ever lived with. Poverty levels are unprecedented, young people have no hope.”
Baba-Ahmed painted a bleak picture of national cohesion, warning that the country’s social fabric was fraying. “The country is more divided now than it has ever been. And it’s very important that we put an end to this drift in 2027. As I said before, another term for the same administration may just put an end to this country,” he stated.
Responding to suggestions from government supporters that opposition to the president amounts to a coordinated political campaign against him, Baba-Ahmed dismissed the framing and redirected the challenge back at the administration. He argued that the real threat comes not from political opponents but from armed groups the government has failed to contain. “If there is a gang up, it will be a gang up of criminals and bandits and killers and kidnappers that the same president has not been able to contain,” he said.
He also disputed the president’s characterisation of insecurity as a politically driven phenomenon. “The president is incapable of securing Nigerians and is blaming criminals. He’s blaming politicians rather than dealing with the sources, the manifestation of insecurity,” Baba-Ahmed said.
His remarks follow the Ibadan Declaration of April 25, 2026, in which the PRP joined 13 other opposition parties in committing to field a single consensus presidential candidate against the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2027. The Nigerian presidential election is scheduled for February 20, 2027.
The Tinubu administration did not immediately respond to Baba-Ahmed’s latest comments.
