As the 2027 general election draws closer, the political landscape is becoming clearer, with Dr. Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, presidential candidate of the Accord Party, emerging as the only credible and main opposition to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
What distinguishes Hashim is not political noise, but substance. He is bringing a refreshed thinking and a robust policy plan that directly addresses the economic hardship facing ordinary Nigerians.
Labour leaders and independent analysts have noted the need for Nigerians to look beyond market-oriented politicians of the far-right. The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Joe Ajaero, recently observed that Peter Obi, Atiku Abubakar and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu share the same economic ideology, which rewards importation and punishes local production. Ajaero said he has examined Gbenga Hashim’s policy position and found it worthy of serious public attention.
According to stakeholders, what Nigeria needs at this time is not another round of devaluation, unplanned subsidy removal and IMF prescriptions, but a productive economy agenda anchored on affordable energy, massive industrialisation, domestic refining, increased crude production, job creation and security of lives and property. That, they argue, is what Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim represents.
Unlike opportunistic opposition figures at both state and national levels, Hashim is not seeking political settlement or moving from party to party to negotiate personal interest. He is offering a real alternative.
In Kwara State, the Accord Party has declared itself the only real opposition platform, warning against wasting votes on what it described as a depleted PDP and a Rainbow Coalition of opportunists without ideology. With the Federal High Court affirming Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim as Accord’s presidential candidate, the party says it is bringing the same clarity to the national stage as a credible opposition platform with the competence to do better.
Hashim’s plan rests on four clear priorities.
First is Energy First, aimed at making energy affordable and available for industries and homes, with a realistic plan starting at N605 per litre of PMS and targeting N200 to N300 through domestic refining and efficiency.
Second is Production over Consumption, moving Nigeria from a sharing economy to a producing economy by raising crude production to 4 million barrels per day within 24 months and building industrial clusters.
Third is Security and Jobs, which links security to economic justice by productively engaging the youth and securing farms and communities.
Fourth is Accountable Governance, focused on a government that listens, cuts waste and puts the people first.
While others rely on insults and old ethnic calculations, Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim is presenting a clear policy document. He is a refreshed brain in a tired political system, not part of the old order that created the current crisis.
For Nigerians who desire real change in 2027 and not just a change of faces, the choice, according to supporters, is becoming clear.
Tunde Fadipe
Former TIC Chairman,
Isin Local Government
Aare Ooye of Oke Onigbin
