2027: APC to ‘Loose’ All South Eastern States
The 2027 elections will test many things in Nigeria, but one outcome is already becoming politically inevitable: the All Progressives Congress (APC) is on track to lose every elective seat in the South East — and the reason is singular, emotional, legal, historic, and moral: the handling of Nnamdi Kanu’s case.
For four years, the APC-led Federal Government has carried the burden of a decision that continues to inflame sentiments across Igboland — the abduction, extraordinary rendition, and prolonged detention of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
This is not emotion. It is documented fact.
In June 2025, the High Court of Kenya ruled decisively that Kanu was illegally abducted, tortured, and renditioned to Nigeria in 2021, declaring the operation a “violation of international law” and awarding him 10 million Kenyan shillings in compensation (Source: Vanguard News, 2025 — https://www.vanguardngr.com).
The judgment didn’t merely indict individuals — it condemned the process used by the Nigerian government under the APC. And across the South East, that ruling confirmed what millions already believed: that Nnamdi Kanu was not arrested — he was kidnapped.
A Political Wound That Has Not Healed
Nnamdi Kanu’s detention has become the most potent political symbol in the region since the end of the Civil War. Every passing day reinforces a narrative of injustice, selective prosecution, and ethnic targeting.
As The Whistler (2025) reported (https://thewhistler.ng), Kanu’s case has “galvanized unprecedented sympathy” and has become “the single strongest mobilizing symbol in the South East.” IPOB’s popularity may rise and fall, but Kanu’s symbolic power has never weakened.
The APC’s continued prosecution of a man whose earlier charges were dismissed by the Court of Appeal in 2022 has entrenched the perception of political persecution. Even international observers have taken note.
The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, according to Daily Post Nigeria (2025) (https://dailypost.ng), has repeatedly expressed concern about:
violations of due process
denial of medical access
prolonged solitary confinement
disregard for court orders
When the UN says a trial risks violating “fundamental human rights norms,” political consequences are inevitable.
A Legal and Moral Crisis Turned Political Time Bomb
Several key events have shaped the perception that the APC government crossed irreversible lines:
June 2021: Kanu abducted in Kenya and secretly flown to Nigeria.
(Source: Leadership, 2025 — https://leadership.ng)
July 2022: Nigerian Court of Appeal clears him of all charges and orders his release; FG refuses to obey.
(widely reported by multiple outlets)
2023–2025: Multiple court orders for improved medical care ignored.
June 2025: Kenyan High Court declares the rendition illegal.
Every one of these events tightened the emotional noose around the APC’s political chances in the South East.
APC’s Political Miscalculation
The APC misjudged the political terrain. Instead of resolving the case legally, transparently, and swiftly, it became a four-year political siege. Instead of diffusing regional grievances, it deepened them. Instead of following international legal norms, it defied them.
Even now, rumours of transferring Nnamdi Kanu to Sokoto — as circulated on social media and analysed by Pulse Nigeria (2025) (https://pulse.ng) — have created a new wave of outrage.
To many people of the South East, this is no longer a legal case.
It is now:
a referendum on justice
a referendum on dignity
a referendum on whether the Nigerian political structure respects Igbo life
This perception, justified or not, is politically decisive.
A 2027 Verdict Already Forming
The South East has long voted based on issues of fairness, equity, and justice. In 2027, the ballot will reflect one thing:
“If the APC cannot free our son, we will free ourselves from the APC.”
Political analysts, including those cited in The Whistler (2025), confirm that:
APC structures in the region have weakened
defections are increasing
party rallies draw declining crowds
resentment toward federal policies is at an all-time high
Every village meeting, every church gathering, every youth forum, every diaspora WhatsApp group is saying the same thing:
“Free Nnamdi Kanu or forget the South East.”
Conclusion: The Political Consequence Is Now Predictable
The APC’s handling of Nnamdi Kanu’s case has created a political storm from which recovery is nearly impossible.
People do not forget injustice.
People do not reward a government that wounds their collective soul.
Unless the party changes course immediately, the 2027 election in the South East is already decided.
Not by propaganda.
Not by emotions.
But by law, fact, history and conscience.
And the verdict is simple:
APC will lose — completely, overwhelmingly, and deservedly — across all five southeastern states.
AProf Chukwuemeka Ifegwu Eke
