Paul Ibe, Media Adviser to former Vice President and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has said Nigerians, and not clerical endorsements, will decide the outcome of the 2027 general election.
Ibe stated this in a Facebook post on Thursday, reacting to the endorsement of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for a second term by the Charismatic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN).
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The CBCN made the declaration on Wednesday at the grand finale of the 2026 Synod of CBCN and the International Communion of Charismatic Archbishops, Bishops and Apostles in Abuja.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, and the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, attended the event held at the National Christian Centre (NCC), Abuja.
According to the CBCN, the endorsement was based on the President’s performance in office so far.
Responding, Ibe said that while every group has a democratic right to make political endorsements, citizens also have a right to question the basis for such positions.
“Fine. That is their democratic right. But Nigerians have a right to ask: who are the CBCN, and what is the basis of this endorsement?” he wrote.
He questioned whether the endorsement was tied to the administration’s economic policies, citing concerns around rising food prices, purchasing power, insecurity, unemployment and general hardship.
“We have seen this movie before. In 2023, the APC’s ‘fake bishops’ controversy raised questions about the use of clerical symbols for political optics,” Ibe said, referring to the widely reported incident during the last election cycle.
He added that clerical titles alone do not amount to a performance assessment.
“Robes do not confer credibility. Titles do not guarantee moral authority. And endorsements do not substitute for performance,” he said.
Ibe argued that the 2027 election will ultimately be determined by voters based on their lived experience.
“In 2027, Nigerians—not bishops—will deliver the verdict. And that verdict will be based on food prices, jobs, security, wages, purchasing power and lived experience—not robes and rhetoric,” he stated.