Nigerian elections since the return to democracy in 1999 have featured open contests between at least two major political parties, even in the two previous cases where the incumbent president sought and won re-election. De-listing two of Tinubu’s strongest challengers barely six months before the polls marks a break from that norm.

Nigeria’s electoral democracy has many imperfections. Over the years, several polls have been marred by voter intimidation, the snatching of ballot boxes, and post-election violence. However, there have been signs of progress in all that chaos. In 2015, incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan lost his second term bid in an election that was largely deemed to have been conducted without interference from him. It showed that a ruling government could not afford to take voters for granted, and portended an era of free contests.

On one hand, the opposition camp’s vote is set to be heavily split between Atiku and Obi going into 2027, putting Tinubu in pole position to retain his job. But the president’s team plans to campaign that its aggressive policy push has revitalized the economy by cutting subsidies, deregulating the foreign exchange market, and passing tax reforms. It has recorded a rare balance of payments surplus and a 340% trade surplus rise this year.

In that case, Tinubu’s team should confidently go to the polls without its attorney-general throwing his weight behind a de-registration lawsuit against opposition parties, as happened in the ADC’s case. It would seem much healthier for a still nascent democracy that the game of votes is played and won on the field, without prior attempts to prevent opponents from being on the ballot.