By Peace Udugba
Former Kaduna Central Senator, Shehu Sani, has attributed the growing support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu among some opposition governors to political survival, electoral calculations and the interests of their respective states ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Sani said governors such as Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke, Abia State Governor Alex Otti and Anambra State Governor Charles Soludo had assessed their political options and concluded that maintaining a working relationship with the Federal Government was in the best interest of their states and political futures.
He made the remarks on Tuesday while speaking as a guest on Frontline, a current affairs programme on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese-Ijebu, Ogun State.
According to the former senator, Nigerian politicians often have to balance their immediate political interests with their long-term ambitions and the interests of their constituents.
“If you are a politician, you look at both sides of what will be better for your present and also for your future. And strategically, what will also be easier for your people,” Sani said.
He argued that the opposition governors had weighed the available political alternatives and considered alignment with Tinubu a safer option, particularly because they believed there was currently no opposition figure with sufficient nationwide political reach to effectively challenge the President.
Sani said Soludo, who governs Anambra State on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), could not easily align with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar because of what he described as Atiku’s limited political strength in the South-East.
He also said Soludo would not want to limit his political future by aligning exclusively with Peter Obi, whose strongest political base, according to him, remains in the South-East.
“Soludo is looking beyond the South-East and seeking to position Anambra within the broader Nigerian political space,” he said.
On Otti, Sani said the Abia governor was also interested in taking the state into what he described as the national political mainstream.
He noted that although Peter Obi remained influential in the South-East, his political strength outside the region was not comparable to that of Tinubu.
“So, he is taking Abia to the mainstream,” Sani said, adding that governors would naturally consider the benefits their states could derive from maintaining a relationship with the Federal Government.
Sani also linked Adeleke’s relationship with Tinubu to political pragmatism following the Osun State governorship election.
He said Adeleke understood that winning the governorship election did not automatically translate into control over the state’s voting pattern in a presidential election.
According to him, Adeleke therefore had to consider both his political future and the broader interests of Osun State.
“He has won his election, and Tinubu has stopped any form of interference to tamper with that,” Sani said.
The former senator argued that Adeleke’s relationship with Tinubu should not necessarily be interpreted as an endorsement of everything the President’s administration had done.
Rather, he described the relationship as one driven largely by mutual political interests.
“Adeleke needs Tinubu. Tinubu needs Adeleke,” he said.
Sani also cited the controversy surrounding the freezing of the Osun State Government’s account by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), saying the Federal Government’s intervention in the matter demonstrated the importance of maintaining communication between the two political leaders.
He maintained that political calculations often override ideological differences in Nigeria, particularly when elected officials are seeking to retain their positions and secure benefits for their constituents.
“If you are a politician, before you think of any policy or programme, you first of all have to think of winning an election and remaining on your seat because politics is the vehicle to other things,” he said.
“You must secure your seat first. You must secure your state first before you think of the next thing to do.”
Sani further argued that political competence alone could not guarantee electoral success without an understanding of Nigeria’s complex political structure.
“You can be the most competent person in Nigeria, you can be the best person in Nigeria, but you have to go through the political ritual for you to assume political office,” he said.
He said the emerging alliances between opposition governors and the Tinubu administration should therefore be viewed against the backdrop of the evolving political calculations ahead of the 2027 elections.
According to him, political alliances in Nigeria can shift when politicians believe that such realignments will protect their political interests, strengthen their states and improve their access to the Federal Government.
