By Opeyemi Adelakun
As political calculations intensify ahead of Nigeria’s 2027 general elections, leading socio-political organisations have renewed calls for greater scrutiny of presidential hopefuls, insisting that Nigerians should have sufficient information about the people seeking to govern them.
The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) and Middle Belt Forum (MBF) separately backed the idea of examining the educational background, personal history, integrity, achievements and political records of candidates before they are entrusted with public office.
The intervention has also opened a broader debate over where legitimate public scrutiny should end and legal qualification should begin, with Afenifere warning that subjective moral judgments must not be allowed to supersede the provisions of the law.
The ACF made the strongest case for transparency, arguing that candidates seeking Nigeria’s highest political office should be prepared to account for their past and allow voters to make informed decisions.
Speaking on Arise Television’s Morning Show, ACF Publicity Secretary, Prof. Tukur Baba, said the public had every right to ask questions about the background of anyone seeking to become president.
“If you are presenting yourself for election to the highest office in Nigeria, holding lives together, being the Commander-in-Chief, it is legitimate to ask questions,” Baba said.
He argued that the credibility of a candidate should not be reduced to whether the person possesses the required certificates.
“The certificate is not as important as the story itself. It has to be straight. It has to be consistent. If it is not, there is a problem,” he said.
Baba acknowledged that the 1999 Constitution does not expressly require a presidential candidate to provide documentary evidence covering every stage of his or her educational journey.
However, he maintained that the absence of such a specific requirement should not prevent Nigerians from examining the broader history and credibility of candidates.
“The law is clear, but I want to move away from focusing just on the qualification. You see here, we practise a brand of politics that is different from all those countries you listed,” he said.
Using China as an example, Baba argued that political leadership in some countries involves a lengthy process of assessment before individuals rise to the highest levels of government.
“In China, you cannot just come from nowhere. You start from the very word and you climb. They have a very leadership selection process that you go through many years before you get to that point.
“By the time you get to the point of leadership, everything is known about you. Everything is scrutinised,” he said.
He criticised what he described as Nigeria’s weak culture of demanding accountability from political leaders.
“We are simply flexible in our demands for accountability. There are no standards, and there are no standards because we do not demand standards,” Baba said.
Governance, Not Certificates, Ultimately Matters
Despite his emphasis on scrutiny, Baba said Nigerians were ultimately more concerned about how political leadership affects their daily lives than about certificates alone.
“What matters to them is the effect of good governance,” he said.
He listed healthcare, education, housing, transportation and household welfare among the issues that directly determine citizens’ assessment of government.
“At the end of the day, what goes into my pocket? How is my family protected? Would my wife go to the hospital and expect service? Would my children receive quality education?” he asked.
Baba consequently urged political actors to embrace greater transparency so voters could properly understand the people seeking their mandate in 2027.
PANDEF: Candidates Should Open Up Their Life History
PANDEF National Chairman, Ambassador Godknows Igali, endorsed the ACF’s position, saying the call for greater disclosure should not be interpreted as an attack directed at any particular politician or region.
Reacting to Baba’s declaration that anyone seeking to lead Nigeria should have a clear past, Igali said candidates should provide voters with a reasonable account of their journey.
“Well, absolutely. When a person presents himself for public service, it is right, proper, and fitting for him to make available to those he wants to serve, as much as possible, the journey of his life: what he has been and what he is today,” Igali said.
The former diplomat compared political contests to ordinary employment processes, where applicants are expected to provide information about their qualifications and experience.
“I don’t think they direct it to any particular individual; rather, they have made it a global condition that you should tell us who you are, where you’ve been, and what you’ve done,” he said.
He added: “Look, all over the world, any job you apply for will ask for your CV. The purpose of the CV is to know who you are and what you have done. If that were not the case, any one of us could go anywhere and do any job.”
According to Igali, understanding a candidate’s history allows voters to assess both the strengths and weaknesses the person could bring to public office.
“People want to know what strengths you are bringing on board to the new office you seek, as well as what weaknesses can be discerned from knowing what you’ve been through and how you navigated it,” he explained.
He rejected the argument that a politician’s current status should be considered independently of his or her past.
“Some people may argue that we don’t care what the man has been before; what is important is where he is today. I think that view is incomplete. It is not fair to Nigerians,” Igali said.
MBF Wants Candidates Judged By Their Scorecards
The Middle Belt Forum also supported greater scrutiny, but placed particular emphasis on what aspirants had actually achieved before seeking higher office.
Its National President, Dr Bitrus Pogu, described the demand as a useful starting point for assessing presidential candidates.
“I think it is a very good starting point because one needs to have his scorecard to be endorsed by Nigerians. It is something which is proper anyway,” Pogu said.
He argued that candidates should not expect campaign promises alone to convince voters.
“One has to sell himself by his track record. You do not just come and start building from no foundation at all. It does not happen,” he said.
Pogu called for all presidential hopefuls to submit themselves to proper public scrutiny, saying voters needed enough information to assess their capacity and integrity.
“Everybody needs to subject himself to proper scrutiny by Nigerians. One should be able to say yes, he has a clean track record that Nigerians can say, yes, if this is brought forward, it can impact positively on the Nigerian state and Nigeria would be better off with him,” he said.
Afenifere: Morality Must Not Override The Law
While supporting the usefulness of investigating candidates’ backgrounds, Afenifere introduced a legal dimension to the debate, cautioning against allowing subjective moral judgments to become a substitute for constitutional requirements.
Afenifere General Secretary, Chief Ademola Folarin, said background checks could help voters assess candidates but noted that questions of morality often depend on individual perceptions and competing interests.
“Interrogating the background of electoral candidates, as part of the process to determine their suitability for public office, is desirable and useful, and this usually, raises important moral issues. But morality, oftentimes, sits on the bed of subjectivity and conflicting interests. And it is trumped by the legal exactitudes of statutes,” Folarin said.
He argued that the law ultimately provides the binding framework for determining eligibility, unlike moral judgments, which can differ substantially among voters.
“Ultimately therefore, morality sits at the crossroad of legality and conjecture, where the latter is overwhelmed by the former. Whereas, the voters’ opinion will vary on moral issues, due to perception or because of conflicting interests, legality is confined to a process strictly determined by law, and an outcome that’s irresistibly binding,” he said.
Folarin further argued that while background interrogation could raise moral questions, the decisive test should remain whether a candidate meets the legal requirements, possesses the competence to govern and can respond to the needs of Nigerians.
“A focus on morality, which background interrogation entails, is ultimately futile. Baba appears to concede that point with his final summation, which is that, the true test of a candidate’s suitability, is whether, he’s legally qualified, competent, and able to satisfy the needs and aspirations of the people,” he said.
He added that unlike moral disputes, for which there may be no universally binding mechanism for resolution, the Constitution provides procedures for resolving legal questions.
“And while there’s no binding forum to settle moral disputes, the constitution provides a binding process to settle legal disputes,” Folarin said.
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