The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) released the final list of 18 presidential candidates for the January 2027 general election on September 12, 2026. The race is now taking shape around stark disagreements on fuel pricing, electricity, security, and the economy.
Candidates include President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Congress (ADC), Peter Obi of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Social Democratic Party's Adewole Adebayo, Allied Peoples Movement's Seyi Makinde, African Action Congress candidate Omoyele Sowore, and Peoples Redemption Party candidate Donald Duke.
Where candidates stand on fuel pricing
Tinubu is seeking a second term on the record of his administration's economic reforms, including subsidy removal and foreign exchange changes. According to The Punch, while accepting the APC's nomination, he said his next four years would focus on "economic expansion, industrialisation, energy security, infrastructure development, food sufficiency, and democratic consolidation."
Atiku has promised to restore the subsidy, insisting he will follow through despite a conflicting statement from a campaign aide. "I want to repeat categorically that when I said I would return to subsidy, I will!" he said. His campaign has since clarified that the intervention would be linked to domestic crude production rather than the old import-based arrangement.
Obi, whose running mate is Rabiu Kwankwaso, has also proposed a subsidy return but says his administration would build a transparent tracking system for crude output and oil revenues. Speaking in Sokoto on September 28, he said: "Kwankwaso and I will initiate a work plan that would transparently arrive at the quantum of crude, nature of transactions, import and export, and revenue accruing from every single oil and gas transaction."
Specific proposals and refineries
Adebayo is proposing the most specific fuel price target: N200 per litre for petrol, cooking gas and Jet A1, backed by domestic refining. He unveiled the SDP manifesto, titled Farewell to Poverty and Insecurity, in Abuja on September 8 and promised four functional refineries and 75,000 megawatts of electricity generation within his term.
Makinde has rejected a return to the previous subsidy arrangement, instead proposing that crude supplied to Nigerian refineries be priced separately from crude sold on the international market. Duke, meanwhile, has questioned whether the subsidy ever genuinely existed. "You can't remove what doesn't exist. I postulate there is nothing like fuel subsidy," he said at a Nigerian Bar Association debate in Port Harcourt in August.
Other key promises
Sowore has proposed the most unconventional agenda, including using artificial intelligence to manage public finances and drones for national defence. He has also promised a N500,000 monthly minimum wage, 24-hour electricity and free education.
Obi has pledged to increase power generation by at least 10,000MW within four years, while Adebayo has promised to defeat insecurity within his first term. Duke has framed his campaign around ordinary Nigerians, describing his target voters as "keke rider, okada, street hawker, market woman, farmer and the unemployed graduate."
Atiku tackles Tinubu over N70,000 minimum wage
Meanwhile, Legit.ng also reported that opposition leader Atiku Abubakar called for a substantial increase to Nigeria's N70,000 minimum wage, saying it has failed to restore workers' purchasing power. The ADC presidential candidate compared Nigeria's wage to those of Libya, Algeria, Gabon and other African countries, all of which he said were higher.
Atiku pledged to begin raising the wage floor from his first day in office and outlined plans for a targeted production subsidy on locally refined petrol. With the election months away, candidates are expected to provide further detail on how their proposals would be funded and delivered.
