BY AHMED AKANBI
The Director-General of the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), Prof Abubakar Sulaiman, has warned politicians against reckless conduct and utterances that could destabilise Nigeria ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Sulaiman gave the warning on Sunday while featuring on a national television programme in Abuja.
He urged political actors to embrace issue-based campaigns and build an inclusive political culture to safeguard the nation’s democracy.
The NILDS boss cautioned against divisive rhetoric, saying vulgar statements and actions are capable of threatening national unity and heightening tensions.
“As electioneering activities gather momentum for the 2027 general elections, NILDS is finalising plans to convoke a political communication summit to address the issues of political communications, including utterances and campaigns.
“Our appeal is that our campaign utterances should be issue-based. We should avoid vulgar statements. We should avoid statements that could set the country on fire.
“Our appeal to our politicians is that we should not be under any illusion that everything is okay. We should protect this democracy through our conduct, through our political culture,” he said.
Sulaiman also tasked political parties to stop taking Nigerians for granted and to promote inclusive politics, especially for women, youth and vulnerable groups.
“We should play politics of inclusivity. The youth must be involved; our women must be involved; people that are vulnerable must be involved.
“Our politicians should guide their conduct, especially their actions and their utterances. Anything that would threaten the monolithic entity of this country must be avoided.
“We should not push some actors to the wall for them to react. We should guide democracy jealously, and that’s my advice to politicians,” he stressed.