The nation remains in perpetual campaign mode

Although the next general election is still several years away, Nigeria’s political elite has already entered full‑scale campaign mode. Across ministries, government offices and legislative chambers, the focus on governance is increasingly giving way to the pursuit of re‑election tickets or the positioning for higher offices.

In Abuja, hotels, guest houses and political meeting venues are once again packed with governors, lawmakers, commissioners, aides and party loyalists who are lobbying influential figures, negotiating alliances and seeking endorsements ahead of party primaries. Many of these politicians have effectively relocated to the capital, where party headquarters and political gatherings now appear more important than the constituencies they were elected to serve. The risk is clear: when politics becomes a permanent occupation, governance inevitably suffers.

Political discourse now dominates virtually every strand of public conversation. Even global events such as the upcoming World Cup struggle to displace politics from trending topics. Defections, endorsements, alliances and coalition talks are already underway, and headlines about governance are increasingly eclipsed by calculations of succession and power struggles. For Nigeria, the election cycle has become seemingly endless.

Abuja is turning into a massive political pilgrimage centre, with countless manoeuvrings, lobbying, alignments, displacements and replacements taking place. Politicians are courting power brokers, governors, party chairmen, influential stakeholders and even the President and his inner circle. Screening committees, consultations, strategic meetings and back‑room negotiations are proceeding at full speed, and members of these committees have emerged as emergency power brokers who must be courted by any means.

Public office holders now appear to spend more time chasing tickets than addressing public problems. In the midst of these political calculations, governance bears the greatest cost. The effects are already visible in delayed projects, weak policy implementation, reduced public engagement and distracted commissioners and aides who are more concerned with political survival than with service delivery. Governors are increasingly absorbed by succession politics, while lawmakers focus more on securing return tickets than on their legislative duties.

Citizens continue to fund governance with their hard‑earned tax money, yet what they increasingly receive in return is politics rather than tangible service delivery.

It has become almost characteristic of Nigeria’s political life that the country remains permanently in campaign mode. The nation barely finishes one election before preparations for the next begin. Officials often spend the first year of a four‑year term settling into office and building political structures; by the second year they consolidate power and strengthen alliances; and in the third and fourth years their attention shifts almost entirely to the upcoming election cycle. Consequently, politics never pauses long enough for sustained governance to take place.

The irony is that party primaries are increasingly resembling coronations rather than genuine democratic contests. As noted previously, there is a growing trend of imposed candidates and manipulated “consensus” arrangements. Many aspirants, after spending millions of naira—and in some cases foreign currency—on mobilisation, consultations and procurement of nomination forms, suspect that primary outcomes are predetermined before delegates cast their votes. State governors and influential party leaders are increasingly deciding who emerges as candidates, turning upcoming primaries into formalities that merely legitimize decisions already made behind closed doors.

This situation exacts a heavy toll on both democracy and national development. Office holders neglect governance and public responsibilities in pursuit of electoral ambitions and political survival. While they chase personal aspirations, citizens continue to grapple with poor roads, worsening insecurity, inflation, unemployment and persistent power challenges. State resources are being misused to further personal political ambitions, with government machinery subtly deployed for campaigns and political calculations. Public trust erodes steadily, as many voters feel abandoned shortly after elections are won.

Nigeria operates on a four‑year electoral cycle, and a four‑year mandate should mean four years of full, undistracted service to the people. Public office is not a part‑time assignment; elected officials owe citizens total commitment throughout their tenure. Ideally, performance—not political manoeuvring—should determine whether they merit re‑election or elevation to higher offices, such as governors seeking Senate seats or lawmakers eyeing governorships. In practice, this is far from the reality.

Therefore, urgent reforms are needed in Nigeria’s electoral and political culture. Meaningful change requires shortening the excessive length of the political season, establishing clearer rules and stricter enforcement against premature campaigning and abuse of incumbency. Citizens must also demand performance before politics. Nigeria needs a political culture that values governance as highly as it values elections.

Politics is undeniably a vital component of democracy, but it becomes dangerous when it completely overshadows governance. Nigerians did not elect governors, lawmakers and presidents to spend their terms plotting the next election or lobbying for new positions. They were elected to solve problems, implement policies, provide leadership and improve citizens’ lives over a constitutionally guaranteed four‑year period.

The growing obsession with the 2027 general elections suggests that, for many politicians, public office has become less about service and more about perpetual political survival.

As the primaries of different political parties draw nearer, the distractions will only intensify. History, however, tends to favour leaders who govern well over those who merely scheme successfully. The challenge before Nigeria’s political class is therefore both simple and urgent: govern first, campaign later.