By joshua DEAR NIGERIAN OPPOSITION: ELECTIONS ARE WON BY VOTES, NOT ENDLESS CERTIFICATE HUNTS
By Musa Bakare
Politics is about persuasion, vision, organisation, and public trust, not endless distractions.
Democracy rewards parties that engage voters with credible alternatives, not those that spend entire election seasons chasing controversies while neglecting the very people they seek to lead.
Recent political history offers a clear lesson.
Before the 2015 and 2019 presidential elections, much attention was centred on controversies over General Muhammadu Buhari’s academic credentials.
The opposition scoured WAEC archives across West Africa in search of the secondary school certificate of a retired Nigerian Army general, former military head of state, and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.
While they focused on litigation and media theatrics, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the APC concentrated on nationwide mobilisation and presenting its message to Nigerians.
The electorate delivered its verdict at the ballot box. The APC won decisively. The opposition responded with cries of “rigging!”
A similar pattern emerged in 2023. The same opposition invested enormous resources and political energy in debates over President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s academic records.
They wasted time and money flying to and from America in search of his degree certificate.
The APC, despite being the incumbent government, took no chance, focused on campaigning vigorously across the length and breadth of the country, strengthening its structures, and promoting its manifesto.
Once again, Nigerians made the final decision through the democratic process. And again, the opposition cried “rigging” to high heavens.
As 2027 approaches, the same distractions are resurfacing. But the real questions remain:
What advantage or disadvantage does anyone’s certificate offer their electoral cause? What vision do they offer beyond chasing shadows? How will anyone’s certificate improve security, create jobs, grow the economy, expand infrastructure, or strengthen national unity, the real issues that determine electoral success.
Nigerians are not fooled by these antics.
The opposition should learn from the political philosophy of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the APC, which holds that elections are won through grassroots mobilisation, party organisation, coalition building, credible leadership, and public confidence, not fault findings, media controversies or endless searches for what is not lost.
Democracy is ultimately decided in polling units, not in hunting for people’s certificates or in vindictive pull-him-down syndromes.
Ahead of 2027, President Tinubu and the APC are far more focused on political consultation, organisational strengthening of the party, and promoting the Renewed Hope Agenda.
President Tinubu continues to seek public support based on his administration’s policies and record.
The opposition has every constitutional right to scrutinise the government. However, criticism is not a substitute for presenting a compelling national alternative, if they have one.
Nigerians deserve a contest of ideas, not a competition of distractions.
The road to Aso Rock has always been built on strategy, persuasion, organisation, and the confidence of millions of voters, qualities with which President Tinubu is heavily endowed.
If any party hopes to defeat President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2027, its strongest weapon is not another certificate hunt, but a thorough search for a superior vision capable of winning the trust and votes of Nigerians, a vision they sadly lack.
The lesson remains timeless: elections are won by campaigns, ideas, and votes, not by endless certificate hunts.
Musa Asiru Bakare, a political analyst writing from Lokoja, Kogi State.
August 8, 2025