2027 Election: Utomi Warns of Hunger, Anger, Urges Nigerians to Vote in Large Numbers

LAGOS — Political economist and Convener of the Big Tent and Movement for Credible Election (MCE), Prof. Pat Utomi, has called on Nigerians to ensure a massive turnout for the 2027 presidential election, warning that the country’s worsening economic conditions demand stronger citizen participation.

Utomi made the call at a media briefing in Lagos on Wednesday as preparations begin for the 2027 general elections.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has scheduled the presidential and National Assembly elections for January 16, 2027. The governorship and state assembly elections are to follow on February 6, 2027.

According to Utomi, a strong voter turnout would give Nigerians greater power to influence the direction of the country and respond to the socio-economic challenges facing the nation.

“The state of our country is troubling. The pain, the hunger, and the anger in the land is so palpable,” he said.

He described the task of rescuing Nigeria from its current difficulties as “a matter of desperation”, warning that widespread poverty could be exploited to influence voters.

“Even as power continues to weaponise poverty through the buying of votes of those so hungry,” Utomi said.

He urged citizens to resist attempts to manipulate elections and hold institutions responsible for protecting democracy accountable.

“The people must stand up and force compromised institutions to do right or pay a high price,” he said.

Utomi expressed particular concern about declining public confidence in institutions such as the judiciary, police, EFCC and INEC.

“Our institutions are crumbling while public confidence in the judiciary, the police and EFCC are at an all-time low,” he said.

He also claimed that confidence in INEC’s independence had weakened among many Nigerians, arguing that the credibility of the electoral process would be crucial to Nigeria’s future.

“Impunity must end in Nigeria if Nigeria is to survive,” Utomi said.

As part of efforts to improve electoral transparency, he said the Big Tent and MCE were working toward livestreaming proceedings from every polling booth during the 2027 elections.

Utomi said the initiative was designed to discourage malpractice and make activities at polling units more transparent.

He added that the proposed system could help overcome weaknesses associated with INEC’s IREV electronic results-viewing platform, while stressing the need for sufficient technical redundancy to avoid failures similar to those recorded during the 2023 elections.

Turning to the economy, Utomi cited recent IMF figures on food insecurity, saying, “Thirty-five million Nigerians were in food insecurity.”

He also referred to World Bank estimates which, he said, indicated that around 139 million Nigerians could be living in poverty by the end of 2026.

Utomi warned that the economic situation was affecting not only living standards but also Nigerians’ mental wellbeing and the country’s already pressured healthcare system.

He said he had recently received an unusually high number of requests for financial assistance from people he had previously regarded as middle-class Nigerians.

“I was beginning to think that I was being targeted because I received like a dozen or more desperate solicitations for money,” he said.

The professor said he initially assumed the requests were directed at him because people expected him to share whatever resources he had.

However, he said he later realised that similar appeals were being made to several other Nigerians.

“Until a few days ago, I realised that I wasn’t the only one getting those requests. It was all over the place,” he said.

Utomi said the trend demonstrated how deeply economic hardship had affected Nigerians, with begging becoming increasingly common even among people who had previously been financially self-sufficient.

“So Nigerians have now lost their dignity that the shame of begging is nothing but has become a trend,” he said.

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