The All Progressives Congress won the Zuru State Constituency bye-election. That is the official record. But anyone who understands Nigerian politics knows that winning with less than five percent of registered voters is not a victory. It is a funeral. The APC secured 4,871 votes out of 109,385 registered voters. The Labour Party, a virtual unknown in the state, managed a mere 168 votes. Total valid votes cast across all parties stood at just 5,055. The two major opposition parties, the PDP and ADC, did not even bother to field candidates. The stage was empty, and the APC still could not fill it.
On the surface, the party retained the seat. But beneath the victory lies a political corpse. The people of Zuru did not turn out because they have nothing to turn out for. They have seen the APC’s promises dissolve into insecurity, poverty, and illiteracy. They have watched their leaders distribute rice and noodles as if feeding a nation of beggars, while the real resources of the state are looted. And they have decided that their silence is louder than any vote. The low turnout was not an accident of weather or logistics, as party officials claimed in the immediate aftermath. It was a calculated, silent protest against a party that has abandoned them.
And what did the APC do in response? It suspended its state chairman, Abubakar Kana-Zuru, and the Zuru LGA chairman, Aliyu Abiola, citing lukewarm attitude, poor engagement, and inadequate mobilisation. The state government also suspended the Commissioner for Livestock, Kabir Zuru. The message was clear: blame the messengers, punish the scapegoats, and pretend the rot does not begin at the top. But you cannot suspend your way out of a fundamental rejection by the people. The suspensions only confirm the panic. They are scrambling to blame individuals for a systemic collapse that starts with the very promises they have made to the presidency.
Governor Nasir Idris has publicly vowed that Kebbi is for Tinubu come 2027. He has assured the presidency of a massive harvest of votes. But the gap between his rhetoric and the reality of Zuru is so vast it borders on insult. Either the governor lives in a parallel universe, or he believes the presidency is too distant to verify the truth. The people of Zuru spoke with their feet, and they said nothing. The emperor has no clothes, but someone is still telling the president he is beautifully dressed. The only question is who is deceiving him, and why.
The APC is not dead in Kebbi because of low turnout alone. It is dead because the people have lost faith. Across the North, the same story is unfolding. The party is now seen not as a vehicle for progress, but as a symbol of state capture and collective betrayal. The suspensions only confirm what everyone already knows: the party is in freefall, and no amount of disciplinary action can stop the descent. The people have already made their choice. They are waiting for 2027 to confirm it.
As 2027 approaches, the people must reject the temptation of rice and noodles, transactional bribes disguised as palliatives. These are sedatives to keep you quiet while resources are looted. The North has received these token gifts for decades, and in return has gotten insecurity, poverty, and illiteracy. How long will we trade our future for a plate of food? The APC celebrated a victory of under 5,000 votes as if it were a mandate. They are laughing at our intelligence.
But we must also warn against boycotting the 2027 election. That narrative is a dangerous manipulation that only entrenches the corrupt status quo. When good people stay home, they hand the country to those who destroyed it. A boycott will not change anything; it will only return the same ineffective government where insecurity, poverty, and illiteracy flourish. The vote is our only weapon. We must use it, not by retreating, but by advancing to the polling units and voting out the architects of our decay. The message from Zuru is unmistakable. The APC won the seat, but it lost the people. And in politics, that is the only loss that matters.
Mohammed Bello Doka can be reached via [email protected]
Abuja Network News
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Opinion