Former Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Solomon Dalung, has predicted that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will lose the 2027 presidential election, despite the political structures and resources available to his administration.

Dalung, a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), made the prediction on Wednesday while appearing on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief.

The former minister said the outcome of the recently concluded Osun State governorship election was an indication of what could happen in the 2027 presidential poll.

He claimed that even if the President appointed his wife, Oluremi Tinubu, as Chief Justice of Nigeria and his son, Seyi Tinubu, as Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Tinubu would still suffer a decisive defeat.

“What happened in Osun is a confirmation of what I have said two years ago, that even if Tinubu appointed his wife, Remi Tinubu, as Chief Justice of Nigeria and appointed Seyi, his son, as INEC chairman, he is going to be defeated woefully in 2027,” Dalung said.

The former minister accused political leaders of failing to meet their constitutional responsibilities, particularly in protecting the lives and property of Nigerians and improving their welfare.

He argued that leaders should focus on delivering good governance and building lasting legacies rather than accumulating public wealth for personal benefit.

“If we have leaders who have consciences, who know that all these monies they are busy stockpiling, one day they will depart this earth without anything, they will concentrate on building a legacy that they will be remembered for,” he said.

Dalung also identified regional considerations and the performance of the Tinubu administration as factors that could influence the 2027 election.

“In 2027, regionalism is going to be a factor in the determination of the election. In 2027, too, the President’s performance is going to be an issue,” he said.

He maintained that the President’s political allies and governors would not be able to secure victory for him, pointing to the Osun election as evidence of the limitations of political mobilisation.

“But on the overall, the President will be defeated woefully because he has assembled the people who have also abandoned the people. The governors whom he has brought to his party can never bail him out. It has been established in Osun,” Dalung said.

He, however, argued that the 2027 election should not be viewed simply as a contest between Tinubu and opposition parties.

According to him, the election would ultimately be about Nigerians deciding who should lead the country.

“2027 is not going to be an issue of Tinubu; it is not even going to be an issue of opposition. No. But the man Nigerians are going to be electing in 2027,” he said.