As Nigerians wait for presidential manifestos ahead of the 16 January 2027 election, opposition figures have accused President Bola Tinubu’s All Progressives Congress (APC) administration of failing to keep pledges made before 2023.
Tinubu took office on a Renewed Hope Agenda that promised to tackle insecurity, revive the economy, create jobs, improve electricity and cut poverty. The government and its allies say infrastructure, investment and social programmes have begun to turn the economy around. Critics say subsidy removal and the floating of the naira pushed millions into hardship. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) 2026 Article IV consultation put national poverty at 63 per cent.
In 2022 Tinubu issued an 80-page document and an eight-point agenda covering jobs, power, security, infrastructure and agriculture. On jobs he pledged decent work for young people and a push into digital, entertainment and tourism work. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows official unemployment falling from 5.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2022 to about 4.3–4.9 per cent in 2026. Opposition parties still call joblessness a crisis, arguing the official rate does not match what households feel.
On electricity he promised sufficient, affordable power and said, in a clip still circulating, that voters should deny him a second term if the lights did not stay on and estimated billing did not end. Grid collapses have eased compared with earlier years; many communities still report long blackouts. On security he promised a bold architecture against terror, kidnapping and banditry. Opposition tallies cited in the debate include hundreds killed in 2025, Nigeria ranked among the countries most affected by terrorism, thousands of kidnap cases since May 2023 and several mass school abductions.
African Democratic Congress (ADC) figure Leader Sampson said the agenda had impoverished citizens while officials lived well, and that voters should take the president at his word on power. Analyst Aaron Akogwu said the campaign would struggle if the old promises were the only story.
Businessman Isaac Fayose argued subsidy savings had not reached ordinary roads or meaningful cash transfers. Finance Minister Taiwo Oyedele pointed instead to Moody’s upgrade of Nigeria’s outlook from stable to positive as external backing for the reforms, with investment-grade status the next target.
The coming manifestos will be read against this ledger: official rates and a credit outlook on one side, pump prices, blackouts and security incidents on the other. Whether 2027 is framed as unfinished reform or as a broken contract is now the argument each ticket must answer in writing.
