2027: Election battle goes beyond Nigeria’s borders

As Nigeria edges closer to the 2027 general election, a curious pattern has emerged. The contest for Aso Rock is no longer being fought solely on the streets of Lagos, in the town halls of Kano or across the creeks of the Niger Delta. Increasingly, it is being waged in the corridors of Washington, in the diaspora halls of Stockholm and Toronto, and in the diplomatic back channels of European capitals. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s principal challengers, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, have both concluded, whether by calculation or necessity, that the road to the presidency now runs partly through foreign capitals. Whether this internationalisa…