Senator Elisha Abbo has challenged the belief that political power lies in the hands of governors, stressing that the people, not political elites, ultimately determine the outcome of elections.
Speaking in a recent interview, Senator Abbo recalled how the All Progressives Congress (APC) gathered massive support from state leaders ahead of the 2023 elections. “Do you know how many governors supported Asiwaju?” he asked. “APC had 20 state governors supporting Asiwaju. PDP led by Wike, making the five PDP governors, worked for Asiwaju. 25 governors came together to see that Asiwaju was elected a president. Do you know how many states he won? 12 states.”
He argued that even with such backing, Tinubu won less than half the number of states supported by governors. “What is this fuse about governors?” he queried. “Governors have money and governors have more enemies in their state than anybody.”
He cited Delta State as a key example, stating that despite the influence of former governor Ifeanyi Okowa, who was also the PDP vice-presidential candidate, he was unable to deliver the state. “He could not deliver Delta to himself. Peter Obi defeated him in Delta… Do you know how many votes he got? 161,000 votes. Do you know how many votes Peter got? 364,000.”
Abbo also highlighted a broader pattern of gubernatorial failure during the 2023 elections: “In 2023 elections, do you know how many state governors could not deliver their state [to] their presidential candidate? 21 state governors could not deliver their state or presidential candidate.”
He concluded that Nigeria’s democracy is maturing, and political calculation based solely on elite endorsements is becoming obsolete.
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