2027 presidency: What are the running mates bringing to the tickets?

As the January 16, 2027, presidential race takes shape, the running mates chosen by each candidate reveal as much about their tickets’ weaknesses as their strengths. PHILIP IBITOYE x-rays the antecedents, political capital and vulnerabilities of the vice-presidential picks across the field, concluding that some of the presidential running mates are more than merely filling the space.

ON Saturday, August 1, 2026, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) published the particulars of all presidential candidates for the January 16, 2027, contest, including their vice-presidential nominees. Needless to say that the choice of running mate is one of the most important pre-election rituals in Nigerian politics; often a make-or-mar decision for candidates seeking executive office. That said, the 2027 candidates have now made their beds ahead of a poll that will determine whether President Bola Tinubu retains his office or becomes only the second president dislodged by the opposition in Nigeria’s democratic history.

In this process, competence and capacity usually take a backseat, but not because those qualities do not matter to candidates, according to political analysts. Rather, candidates use the running mate slot to appeal to constituencies they do not command, adding numbers rather than consolidating an existing bloc. State of origin, region, ethnicity, religion, and political influence are what matter: a Yoruba candidate from the South does not pick an Igbo running mate from the South, however competent, because the target is the vote-rich North.

The same logic applies to religion, though it is complicated by how tightly religion is married to ethnicity in Nigeria. Northern Nigeria is dominated by Muslims, so a Muslim candidate picking a running mate from the region would still…