by Mohammed Bello Doka
14 July, 2026.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has made it abundantly clear that he bears no responsibility for the hunger ravaging the North or the insecurity that has turned farmlands into graveyards and highways into death traps. His message is simple, almost dismissive: hold your governors accountable. But here is the question that should keep every voter in northern Nigeria awake at night—if the President of the Federal Republic cannot hold these governors to account, why on earth should we reward him and them with our votes in 2027?
Let us state the uncomfortable truth that the ruling All Progressives Congress desperately hopes we will ignore. Of the nineteen northern states, a staggering ninety-nine percent of their governors are card-carrying members of the APC. These are not opposition figures causing trouble for the President. These are his foot soldiers, his allies, his political children. Tinubu is not just the President; he is the National Leader of the APC, the man who built the party from its founding in 2013. He handpicked many of these governors, campaigned for them, and ensured their emergence. And now he wants us to believe that he is helpless before them? That he cannot call them to order? That he possesses all the powers of the presidency but lacks the moral courage to demand accountability from his own party loyalists?
This is the same man who, in 2024, watched helplessly as angry and hungry Nigerians took to the streets to protest against bad governance. Instead of listening, instead of addressing their legitimate grievances, Tinubu deployed security agencies to arrest and detain peaceful protesters. He charged underaged children with treason—children who should have been in schools, not in courtrooms facing life-altering charges. These were not rebels or insurgents. These were hungry citizens exercising their constitutional rights. And Tinubu met them with bullets and handcuffs. Yet we are expected to believe that he cannot deal with governors who are his political subordinates? The hypocrisy is staggering, and the insult to our intelligence is unforgivable.
Let us ask a deep and troubling question: how do we, ordinary citizens, even begin to hold our governors to account? Tell us, Mr. President, how do we do it? When we try to hold them accountable through protests, you arrest us. When we try to hold them accountable through the courts, the judiciary is compromised and cases linger for years. When we try to hold them accountable through the media, they own the newspapers and broadcast stations. So how exactly do you expect us to do what you yourself cannot do? What tools have you given us? What instruments of accountability have you created? None. You have given us nothing but blame—blame that conveniently absolves you of all responsibility while you parade yourself as a victim of circumstance.
The most damning indictment of Tinubu's insincerity is what transpired during the just concluded 2026 APC primary elections. Here was a golden opportunity for the President to demonstrate his commitment to accountability. He could have withheld party tickets from underperforming governors. He could have denied them the privilege of running again. He could have sent a powerful message that poor governance has consequences. Did he do any of that? No. Instead, Tinubu handed these same governors the power to decide who gets what, who emerges, and who gets sidelined. He gave them control over the very machinery that should have been used to prune out the weeds in his party. He rewarded failure and incompetence. He chose loyalty over performance. He chose political convenience over the welfare of northerners who are dying of hunger and fleeing from bandits. This is not leadership. This is surrender masked as statesmanship.
If truly Tinubu wanted to hold these governors to account, what would he do? The answer is simple. He would summon them to the Villa and read them the riot act. He would threaten to withhold federal allocations until they fix security and agriculture in their states. He would use his control over the police and the military to hunt down the bandits terrorizing the North, not leave the governors to negotiate with criminals. He would declare a state of emergency in the worst-performing states and take over their administration. He would ensure that the fertilizer and grains meant for farmers actually reach them instead of being diverted to the black market by governors' cronies. He would publicly name and shame underperforming governors and campaign against their re-election. He would use the full weight of his office to make governance in the North a priority rather than a talking point. He would do all of this if he had the will. But he does not. And the reason is simple.
How can a man who lost Lagos to the Obidients in the last election hold powerful northern governors to account who hold his return ticket to ransom? Think about it. Tinubu's political survival depends entirely on these governors. They control the delegates. They control the state machinery. They control the votes. Without their support, Tinubu cannot even secure his party's nomination, let alone win a second term. These governors know this. Tinubu knows this. And that is precisely why he cannot hold them to account. He is beholden to them. He is their hostage. He is a President walking on eggshells, terrified that any attempt at accountability will trigger a rebellion that would end his political career. The man who once boasted of his political sagacity has been reduced to a beggar in his own house, pleading with governors to save him from electoral defeat. This is the reality that Tinubu wants to hide behind the rhetoric of accountability. This is the truth that the northern voter must understand before stepping into the polling booth.
And yet, despite all this, Tinubu has the audacity to ask for our votes. He wants us to reelect him and his governors so that after the election, he can once again tell us to hold them accountable. It is a vicious cycle of deception. Vote for us, he says, and we will fix things. But when we vote for them, things get worse. Then he blames the governors. Then we protest. Then he arrests us. Then he asks for another chance. And the cycle continues. Enough is enough.
The only way we can hold both Tinubu and his allied governors to account is through the ballot. That is the one power that no one can take away from us. Not the police. Not the courts. Not the governors. Not the President. The ballot is our weapon. The ballot is our voice. The ballot is our only hope. And we will use it come January 2027, in sha Allah. No retreat. No surrender. We will march to the polling stations with our Permanent Voter Cards and our determination. We will vote out every single APC governor in the North who has failed us. We will vote out a President who has shown us nothing but contempt and excuses. We will hold them all accountable—not with protests that lead to detention, not with lawsuits that lead nowhere, but with the power of our numbers and the strength of our resolve.
Tinubu cannot hold northern governors to account. That much he has admitted. That much he has proven. But we can. And we will. The question is no longer why we should reelect him and them. The question is why we ever gave them our votes in the first place. The answer to that question will come in January 2027. And it will be resounding. It will be decisive. It will be final. In sha Allah.
Mohammed Bello Doka can be reached via [email protected]
Abuja Network News
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Opinion