68 days to polls: Struggling Nigerians make 2027 demands

The central demand is survival. Nigerians want a president who can reduce hunger, poverty, insecurity, unemployment and inflation. They also want better living conditions and policies they can feel in their homes, workplaces, farms, schools and hospitals. The article says voters are no longer satisfied with campaign rhetoric or grand promises.

Their requests are practical. They want to eat without constant struggle, travel without fear of kidnapping, run businesses without huge diesel and petrol bills, educate their children, obtain affordable treatment and earn enough to live decently. Respondents also mentioned affordable housing, social welfare payments and support for small businesses.

The pressure is broad and immediate. Farmers fear returning to their fields, businesses face rising energy costs, and unemployed graduates search for work. Candidates must therefore show practical plans, not only attractive manifestoes. The article presents the election as a test of whether political leaders can improve everyday life.

Nigerians identified seven main areas for presidential action: insecurity; economic hardship and the rising cost of living; stable electricity and infrastructure; employment and youth empowerment; quality education; accessible healthcare; and accountability in governance. These issues matter because they shape whether people can eat, work, travel safely, study and obtain treatment.

The article connects each priority to daily experience. A farmer may fear returning to a farm because of insecurity. A business may spend heavily on diesel and petrol because electricity is unreliable. Families may struggle to pay for food, school and healthcare as incomes fail to keep pace with rising costs. Young people also need jobs and meaningful opportunities.

Respondents added related reforms. These included state police, revived government-owned refineries, affordable housing, entrepreneurship education, stronger small-business support, judicial reform and lower political expenditure. Their demands suggest that voters expect both immediate relief and stronger institutions that can sustain improvements.

The article names President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress as a candidate seeking another mandate. His listed contenders include former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar of the African Democratic Congress and former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi of the Nigeria Democratic Congress. The article presents the contest as politically charged and closely watched.

Other prominent figures include Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde of the Allied Peoples Movement; Senator Sandy Ojang Onor of the Peoples Democratic Party; former Cross River State Governor Donald Duke of the Peoples Redemption Party; Omoyele Sowore of the African Action Congress; and Adewole Adebayo of the Social Democratic Party.

The published list also names candidates from several smaller parties. They include Sunday Chibuzo Okereke, Rufai Adekunle Omo-Aje, Abbas-Bin Aliyu, Yusuf Kabiru, Sunday Adenuga, Moses Olusoji Adebisi, Ada Elizabeth Frederick Okwori, Nkem Esther Okereke, Peter Ada Agada and Daniel Daberechukwu Nwanyanwu. The article focuses on voters’ demands rather than candidate manifestoes.

BVAS stands for Bimodal Voter Accreditation System. It is an electronic device used in Nigerian elections to confirm that a person is an eligible, registered voter. “Bimodal” refers to two biometric methods: fingerprint and facial recognition. The system is intended to make voter accreditation more reliable than relying only on printed records.

At a polling unit, an election official checks the voter’s details on the device. The voter’s fingerprint or face is matched with stored registration information when possible. If the accreditation succeeds, the voter is recorded as accredited and can proceed according to the election procedure. This helps reduce impersonation and attempts at multiple voting.

The source article contains only a file image captioned “BVAS in use,” so it does not provide operational details. In general, BVAS supports voter verification and accreditation; it is not itself a political issue discussed in the article’s survey. Its effectiveness depends on proper deployment, reliable equipment and trained officials.

Higher food, fuel and electricity prices directly reduce household purchasing power. Families must spend more on basic needs, leaving less for education, healthcare, transport or savings. The article describes millions of Nigerians struggling because incomes can barely cover necessities. Rising prices therefore turn ordinary household budgeting into a survival problem.

Businesses face a second pressure. Unreliable electricity forces many operators to spend heavily on diesel and petrol for alternative power. Those costs can raise prices, reduce profits and make it harder to keep workers employed. Farmers also face insecurity and expensive inputs or transport, while high living costs make returning to farms more difficult.

The article presents these pressures as connected parts of worsening living conditions. Hunger becomes harder to manage, energy costs weaken businesses, and insecurity disrupts farming and travel. Voters consequently expect the next president to address affordability, steady power, security and jobs together, rather than treat each problem as separate.

The president is linked to these issues because citizens experience government through basic services and national conditions. Security affects whether people can travel or farm. Electricity affects household comfort and business costs. Jobs affect income and dignity. Education shapes children’s opportunities, while healthcare determines whether families can obtain treatment without financial hardship.

The article gives clear examples. A farmer fears returning to a farm because insecurity is spreading. Businesses struggle with diesel and petrol costs because power supply is unreliable. Families want good schools and affordable medical treatment. These are not distant policy debates. They are daily tests of whether government is improving people’s lives.

Respondents also connect performance to institutions. They want electoral and judicial systems strengthened so leaders can be held accountable for promises. The next president therefore faces expectations on two levels: deliver practical improvements and help build institutions that make future governments answerable. Success will be judged by visible results, not rhetoric.

Elections give citizens a way to assess leaders and choose among competing candidates. Political institutions and the judiciary provide additional checks on how power is used. Accountability matters because voters want promises translated into results, not repeated after every campaign. Without credible processes, citizens may struggle to reward performance or challenge failure.

The article mentions several proposed reforms. Respondents called for direct election of electoral officials and judicial reforms. Some advocated stronger electoral processes and institutions. These mechanisms can make officials more answerable by improving how leaders are selected and how disputes or alleged failures are examined.

The current concern is that successive administrations may continue making promises without being held accountable. Strengthening elections, courts and other institutions could help close that gap. The article therefore presents institutional reform as part of the wider demand for better living conditions. Practical policies matter, but so does the system that tests whether leaders keep their commitments.