The All Progressives Congress (APC) has cautioned opposition parties in Nigeria against getting too excited over the defeat of incumbent U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris in the recent U.S. presidential election, where former President Donald Trump secured a historic comeback victory.
APC insisted that President Bola Tinubu is on track for re-election in 2027, dismissing suggestions that the Nigerian electorate could replicate the U.S. trend of unseating an incumbent.
Trump, 78, was declared the 47th President of the United States on Wednesday after a surprise victory over Harris, becoming the oldest person to hold the office and launching a political comeback that reverberated around the world.
Reacting to the U.S. election, the Labour Party’s National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, described it as a “true test of democracy.”
Ifoh said it was interesting to see how the American voting public ignored the incumbency factor, which is still a ‘big deal’ in African politics, particularly in Nigeria.
Similarly, Ladipo Johnson, spokesperson for the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), also commented on the complex yet advanced nature of the U.S. electoral system.
Johnson questioned when Nigeria would end the era of tight-knit leaders using the power of incumbency and security apparatus to intimidate the opposition.
However, APC’s National Publicity Director, Bala Ibrahim, dismissed comparisons between the two nations’ electoral systems.
Ibrahim warned opposition parties against drawing premature conclusions from the U.S. election results, saying the electoral processes between the two countries are different.
Ibrahim noted that the incumbency factor doesn’t always work where the people speak with one voice, as witnessed in the victory of former President Muhammadu Buhari over the incumbent, Goodluck Jonathan, in 2015.
“With the way and manner this administration of APC is working assiduously, bringing in new reforms and changes that are painful initially, we will reap the gains and fruits in the long run,” The PUNCH quoted him as saying. “We expect to start seeing the fruits of these reforms right around the time of the election. That should be around 2026 and 2027. It is at that time people will start clapping for the party and the president.
“It will be almost impossible for someone to come from the outside, particularly an outsider that has failed the country before; an outsider that cannot contain its own crisis, to think of defeating the incumbent. It will be very difficult. The APC and the president are very much aware of this expectation and the shenanigans of the opposition.
“But it is not to say that the party and the president are sleeping. No, they are strategizing ahead. So, when we get to the bridge, we will see who has the strongest stride to cross it. And I assure you, the APC will not be found wanting. It will not be caught napping.”
