Odita Sunday 
2027 Poll in Danger as Politically Engineered Poverty Spreads Across Nigeria — HURIWA Warns
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has raised a grave alarm over what it described as a deliberate and politically motivated expansion of mass poverty in Nigeria, warning that the development poses a serious threat to the credibility of the 2027 general elections.
In a strongly worded statement issued in Abuja, HURIWA accused political office holders across the three tiers of government of consciously abandoning pro-poor and growth-driven economic policies in order to keep citizens impoverished and vulnerable to vote-buying.
The statement, signed by Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, National Coordinator of HURIWA, alleged that the President, governors and legislators have collectively embraced policies that deepen hardship because poverty makes voters easier to manipulate during elections.
According to HURIWA, “the poorer most Nigerians become, the more likely they are to mortgage their conscience and sell their votes for a few naira notes,” a trend the group said has been repeatedly tested and perfected by politicians.
The rights group further accused the government of selectively empowering political cronies and loyalists through lucrative appointments and pre-paid contracts, with the sole objective of raising massive war chests ahead of the 2027 elections.
HURIWA also criticised the recent upward review of campaign spending ceilings by the National Assembly, arguing that the move effectively excludes candidates without godfathers and entrenches elite control of the political space.
The organisation expressed deep concern that Nigeria’s poverty crisis may worsen in 2026, barely months before the 2027 polls, citing projections from the Nigeria Economic Outlook 2026 report published by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
It noted that PwC projects that about 141 million Nigerians, representing roughly 62 per cent of the population, may be living in poverty by 2026, a development HURIWA described as “politically convenient but socially catastrophic.”
The group also referenced grim warnings from the World Bank and the World Food Programme (WFP), which recently identified Nigeria as having the highest number of starving children globally, with over 13 million children projected to suffer malnutrition in 2026.
HURIWA said rising inflation, weak income growth, high energy costs and persistent food insecurity have combined to push millions of Nigerians below the poverty line despite claims of economic stabilisation.
“The strategy is simple and sinister,” Onwubiko said. “Hungry people are easily coerced. Poverty has become a political tool to weaken resistance and legitimise electoral fraud.”
HURIWA warned that unless urgent corrective measures are taken, the 2027 general elections may be undermined by vote-buying, compromised institutions and widespread voter desperation driven by hunger and economic despair.
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