{"id":43065,"date":"2026-08-19T08:15:32","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T06:15:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=43065"},"modified":"2026-08-19T08:15:32","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T06:15:32","slug":"as-campaigns-begin-in-nigeria-tinubus-re-election-bid-puts-his-party-on-trial","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/as-campaigns-begin-in-nigeria-tinubus-re-election-bid-puts-his-party-on-trial\/","title":{"rendered":"As campaigns begin in Nigeria, Tinubu&#8217;s re-election bid puts his party on trial"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">As campaigning for January&#8217;s elections begins on Wednesday, President Bola Tinubu&#8217;s pitch for a second term faces a politically fraught question, are Nigerians better off after more than a decade of rule by his \u200bAll-Progressives Congress (APC)?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">The answer could shape the presidential contest against former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, who have built their appeal on widespread frustration over economic hardship \u200cand insecurity.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">The main challengers argue the APC&#8217;s nearly 12 years in power have left Africa&#8217;s most populous country poorer, more indebted and no safer than when the party swept into office in 2015, then under the leadership of Muhammadu Buhari.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">For Tinubu, nicknamed &#8220;T-Pain&#8221; by many Nigerians grappling with soaring living costs, the election will test whether voters are willing to endure short-term pain for the promise of longer-term gains.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">So far, many appear unconvinced.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">&#8220;The APC&#8217;s tenure \u200bfrom 2015 to 2026 makes for unhappy reading and Tinubu&#8217;s reforms have particularly brought severe pain,&#8221; Cheta Nwanze, a partner at Nigeria-based risk advisory SBM Intelligence, said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">&#8220;Our voter tracker shows nearly \u200b80% of Nigerians say the country is headed in the wrong direction with 45% citing economic hardship and insecurity as their top concern.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">Few Nigerian presidents have \u2060moved as quickly on economic policy as Tinubu. He scrapped a costly decades-old fuel subsidy and twice devalued the Naira.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">The reforms delivered changes long sought by investors and international lenders, but also unleashed a \u200bshock across households, fuelling protests and what many Nigerians describe as the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">Tinubu has defended the measures as necessary to unwind years of state intervention. His government cites higher revenues and \u200bstronger investor interest as signs the reforms are working.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">&#8211;Reuters&#8211;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":21761,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-43065","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"","published_date":"","news_description":"President Bola Tinubu's pitch for a second term faces a politically fraught question","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/43065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/43065\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43066,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/43065\/revisions\/43066"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=43065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}