By Daniel Oluwatobiloba Popoola
Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has said the 2027 general election will test Nigeria’s economic reforms, security gains and 28 years of unbroken democracy, urging the media to report the polls with facts rather than sentiment.
Sanwo-Olu made the declaration on Thursday, 3 September, 2026, while delivering the keynote address at the 7th Freedom Online Yearly Lecture, held at Sheraton Lagos Hotel, Ikeja, under the theme “2027 Elections: Economy, Security and Nigeria’s Future.”
He told the audience he was speaking as a technocrat with over two decades in public service, a politician leading his party into the Lagos elections, and a governor in the final months of his second term who would not appear on any ballot in 2027.
“I am not here to ask for your vote. I am here to ask for your attention and, before I finish, for something a little harder than that,” he said.
Situating the election within the country’s democratic history, Sanwo-Olu noted that by January 2027, the Fourth Republic would be 28 years old, more than twice the combined length of the First, Second and Third Republics.
He added that the 2027 vote would be the eighth consecutive general election since 1999, a run that included the 2015 transfer of power in which a sitting president conceded defeat.
Contrasting this record with recent developments across West Africa, he pointed to military takeovers in Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Niger and, more recently, Guinea-Bissau.
“In a region where the ballot box is under siege, Nigeria’s unbroken run of elections is the anchor, and we should say so,” he said.
Turning to the economy, the governor defended the removal of the fuel subsidy, insisting that the pain it caused was now yielding measurable gains.
He cited National Bureau of Statistics figures released on Monday showing that the economy grew by 4.43 per cent in the second quarter, up from 3.89 per cent in the first quarter and 4.23 per cent in the corresponding quarter of the previous year, with agriculture expanding by 4.39 per cent and services by 4.6 per cent.
He further disclosed that external reserves stood at $53 billion the previous week, the highest level since January 2009, adding that the country was running a trade surplus.
Fitch and Moody’s, he said, had both upgraded Nigeria’s credit rating the previous year, while inflation had fallen to 15.9 per cent in June from a peak of nearly 35 per cent at the end of 2024. The naira, he noted, had held its ground against the dollar for most of the past year.
On remittances, Sanwo-Olu cited Central Bank of Nigeria data showing that Nigerians abroad sent home $947 million through formal channels in July, the largest monthly figure on record and close to the $1 billion target set two years earlier.
“These are not my numbers. They belong to the National Bureau of Statistics and the Central Bank of Nigeria, and every journalist in this hall can check them,” he said.
Speaking on behalf of the All Progressives Congress, he declared, “We intend to stay the course, to deepen the reforms, and to make sure that the benefits reach, quickly and visibly, the people who bore the cost.”
Shifting to security, Sanwo-Olu identified two challenges facing the 2027 polls: a practical one, namely whether candidates could campaign, whether INEC could move materials safely, and whether voters would turn out in areas affected by banditry and insurgency; and a perception-based one, since, according to him, people vote based on how safe they feel.
He listed several federal security measures introduced over the past three years, including presidential approval in July for the expansion of the Nigerian Army from eight to 12 divisions, with 28,000 additional personnel and new divisional headquarters in Makurdi, Ilorin, Jalingo and Benin City.
He also cited the establishment of a Navy Special Operations Command, the decentralisation of police training, the creation of Forest Guards and Mining Marshals, a new presidential office for homeland security, and a joint operation carried out in May with American partners that eliminated wanted terrorist commanders in the Lake Chad Basin.
Making a case for state policing, he drew on Lagos’ experience with the Lagos State Security Trust Fund, established in 2007, and the Neighbourhood Safety Corps. “Security works best when the people who pay for it and the people who depend on it can see, and hold to account, the people who provide it,” he said, linking the reform to the Supreme Court’s July 2024 judgment granting financial autonomy to local governments and urging the incoming National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly to complete the relevant constitutional amendments.
Sanwo-Olu tied the economy and security together, arguing that poverty fuels insecurity just as insecurity strangles the economy.
“The most effective security policy is a job, and the surest guarantee of a job is a country safe enough to invest in,” he said, citing Lagos’ Lekki Deep Sea Port, the Blue and Red rail lines, and the city’s standing as Africa’s technology capital as evidence.
He said the Federal Government had targeted the country’s youth population through initiatives including the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, the Consumer Credit Corporation, the 3 Million Technical Talent programme, and a reformed National Youth Service Corps focused on enterprise, alongside the Nigerian Youth Academy, the Nigeria Health Fellowship, the Student Venture Capital Grant, the Power Force programme and the Labour Employment and Empowerment Programme.
On electoral credibility, the governor praised reforms driven by the Electoral Act of 2022 and the Electoral Act of 2026, along with the deployment of technology for voter verification and result transmission.
He cited the August 15 governorship election in Osun State as proof of the system’s fairness, noting that the ruling party’s candidate lost.
“The President did not sulk and he did not equivocate. He picked up the telephone the following day, congratulated the winner, urged him to unite the State, and thanked INEC and the security agencies for a peaceful and transparent election,” he said, adding that Governor Ademola Adeleke had publicly thanked the President for ensuring a level playing field.
Addressing his colleagues in government, Sanwo-Olu said states had received more than double their monthly allocations in naira terms since the subsidy removal.
“The President has done his part; the money is arriving. What is done with it is on us. The excuses have been removed, and the electorate knows it,” he said.
On foreign policy, he said the administration’s objectives had centred on attracting investment and security partnerships, noting that the Nigerian stock market had ranked among the best-performing in the world this year, with the value of listed companies growing more than five-fold since 2023.
He also referenced a July letter from United States President Donald Trump to President Bola Tinubu, describing it as a true honour to stand with Nigeria in the fight against terrorists, backed by a Defense Cooperation Roadmap and joint military operations.
Looking ahead, Sanwo-Olu maintained that the President’s target of a one-trillion-dollar economy by 2030 remained achievable. “Set the target, do the work, and let the scoffers keep the score,” he said. While expressing hope for an APC victory and a second term for President Tinubu, he stressed that, regardless of the outcome, he expected the election to be peaceful, the loser to concede, and Nigeria to add one more milestone to its democratic record.
He concluded with a direct appeal to the media, stating that he was not asking for a compliant press, as a compliant press would be of no use to a democracy.
“I am asking for a rigorous press. Check the facts, mine included. Call out disinformation wherever it comes from, including from my own side,” he said.
Sanwo-Olu further urged journalists to give attention to women and young candidates, and to balance coverage of the country’s problems with stories of progress.
“Patriotism is not propaganda; it is the refusal to let those who wish this country ill have the last word about it,” he said.
He rounded off his address by stating that Nigeria’s future would not be decided on election day itself, but by what the country does with the mandate the election produces.
