The presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the 2023 elections, Prince Adewole Adebayo, has said President Bola Tinubu and his ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) stand the chance to compete alongside candidates from other political parties if there are drastic changes in terms of macroeconomics, security, poverty and employment.
He advised President Tinubu to go home and thank God for the opportunity to have ruled Nigeria for four years if things continue the way they are at present into the 2027 election, because Nigerians would definitely send him packing.
He stressed that Nigerians have better options outside the APC and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which he described as Siamese twins, adding that what Nigerians need is new direction.
“I think we need to understand that Nigerians have options if by 2027, something changes in Tinubu’s government, in terms of macroeconomics, in terms of security, in terms of poverty, in terms of employment, then he becomes competitive. But the way it is now, I think that for the good of the country, or even for the good of the President himself, he should just go home and thank God that he has been the President for four years,” he said.
On the PDP zoning it’s presidential ticket to the South, Adebayo said the problems that Nigerians have with the PDP is not just the rotation of President between the North and the South but 16 years of bad governance.
“The luck that the PDP has is that as bad as their government was, APC has managed to equal them or even top them in mismanagement, otherwise, Nigerians were not happy with the 16 years of PDP, and I think we haven’t forgiven them.
“So, it’s good that they’ve done this rotation thing, so as to make it easier for them to allow people to more substantive arguments as to how to run the government. But I don’t think Nigerians want to see PDP in power,” he said.
On the argument that zoning PDP’s ticket to the South will make victory easier for Tinubu in 2027, he dismissed such thought, stressing that President Tinubu has already disqualified himself when he asked Nigerians to vote him out if after four years, he did not provide stable electricity.
“President Tinubu told Nigerians in 2023, “don’t vote for me if I don’t give you electricity. Has he given Nigerians electricity? He said: ‘I know the job; the job is tough. Let me do what I want to do. If you don’t like it, at the end of the four years, don’t vote for me.’
“So, I don’t think if things remain the way they are in 2027, President Tinubu, in good conscience, should be surprised if he’s massively voted out. Nigerians have suffered enough. His policies are not working and it’s not about us.
“So, Nigerians want alternative politics. We are looking for a new direction. That’s what people are saying; new direction,” he stated.
Daily Sun
