President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has formally accepted the All Progressives Congress presidential ticket for the 2027 general election, using his acceptance speech on Sunday to draw a sharp contrast between his administration’s reform agenda and what he described as opposition politicians without a clear alternative vision for Nigeria.

The president spoke at the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre in Abuja after being declared winner of the APC’s nationwide presidential primary with 10,999,162 votes a landslide that saw him defeat his sole challenger, Stanley Osifo, who polled 16,503 votes across all 36 states and the FCT.

Accepting the nomination before a gathering of governors, party leaders and delegates, Tinubu framed the 2027 contest not merely as an electoral competition but as a test of Nigeria’s democratic maturity.

He warned Nigerians against the danger of complacency and made a pointed reference to his political rivals. “This next election must not merely be a contest of parties or ideas, but a reaffirmation of Nigeria’s democratic maturity. As a government, we have taken giant steps forward. Let’s not give in to complacency by allowing politicians with no clear alternative vision to take our country backwards,” he said. The comment was widely interpreted as a direct challenge to the opposition, which has been struggling with internal divisions ahead of the next electoral cycle.

In a notably candid moment, Tinubu acknowledged the hardship that has accompanied the sweeping economic reforms of his first term, including the removal of the petrol subsidy and the floating of the naira. He told the audience he had personally felt the weight of those decisions, adding that the shared suffering did not diminish the necessity of the path taken.

“I know what it takes to reform this nation we met in tatters. If you lost sleep, I’ve lost some too. If you’ve lost weight, I’ve lost some too. But I’ve always remembered one thing: in 2022, I asked for this job. You all supported me and I got it. So I must do it,” the president said. He pointed to structural reforms in taxation and fiscal policy as evidence that the government’s efforts were beginning to yield results.

The president also addressed the country’s persistent security challenges directly, vowing that his administration would not rest until peace was restored to every part of the country. He pledged continued investment in intelligence gathering, surveillance systems and modern equipment for the armed forces and police, and called on the National Assembly to amend the constitution to allow the creation of state police, describing the matter as a national emergency.

He added that his government would pursue greater inclusion, pledging to build an even more representative administration in a second term that, he said, would listen, learn and lead with the best interests of all Nigerians at its centre.

Tinubu rounded off his speech by evoking his predecessor and late ally, President Muhammadu Buhari, acknowledging the sacrifices of Nigerians who have remained patient through difficult reforms and calling for national unity across regional and religious lines. “Democracy is sustained not by uniformity, but by diversity by a shared belief in the nation and the blending of ideas,” he said. With the APC now formally behind him and the party’s certificate of return presented, Tinubu heads into the 2027 campaign cycle as an incumbent backed by one of the largest primary mandates in Nigerian political history.