Adewole Adebayo, Former SDP Presidential Candidate

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The 2023 presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Adewole Adebayo, has expressed his willingness to step down his presidential ambition in the 2027 elections if a more capable candidate emerges as the party’s flag bearer.

Speaking on the Sunday edition of Inside Sources, a socio-political programme aired on Channels Television, Adebayo emphasized that his primary goal is a better Nigeria rather than personal ambition.

“Everybody knows that I have an aspiration. I’m working on it, but God is the author of tomorrow; we don’t even know who is going to be around in 2027.

“It is my prayer to God that if there is a person who God thinks is better than me to fix the problem of Nigeria, my ambition should not stop that person because we want a country that works. That is the kind of thing we are working on at this time”, he said.

Adebayo assured Nigerians that the SDP would present a candidate that citizens would be proud of and willing to support to challenge President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the next presidential election.

He also stressed that the SDP would not exploit religious or ethnic sentiments to gain political advantage.

He said, “What used to be an easy discussion with religion and ethnicity has become explosive now. So, we will not use the SDP forum to try to bifurcate our people into different zones.

“What we are looking for now is a system where when we make a choice in the SDP, there will be resounding joy outside the SDP and Nigerians will say: ‘Okay, finally, this platform has given the country a chance.’”

Ahead of the 2027 elections, opposition leaders have intensified discussions on forming a coalition to challenge the ruling APC. On March 20, 2025, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, ex-Anambra Governor Peter Obi, and former Kaduna Governor Nasir El-Rufai, among others, announced plans to unite against the Tinubu administration, which has faced criticism over economic mismanagement, high inflation, and the rising cost of living.

The coalition hopes to leverage the combined strength of Atiku and Obi’s votes from the 2023 election, where they garnered over 12 million votes—more than four million above Tinubu’s total.

However, internal conflicts within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP), coupled with grievances among APC members, have made the SDP an attractive alternative for politicians seeking a fresh platform.

Adebayo welcomed new entrants into the SDP but maintained that the party would ensure they do not bring in the political culture of their previous parties.

“If you want to come to the SDP, you have to make sure that you allow us to apply disinfectant, not because we don’t respect you but because you are coming from a highly infected zone.

“The same way we did it during COVID, when you go to your friend’s house. If you love your friend, he will disinfect you so that you don’t infect others”, he stated.

He emphasized that the party’s constitution and guidelines prioritize clean politics, free from corruption, excessive money influence, ethnic bias, and religious manipulation.

“They (the newcomers) told us the calamity they were facing where they were coming from. Each of them talks about injustice. When Peter Obi left PDP, he said there was criminality and injustice there.

“El-Rufai is not shy about his calamity; how they (APC members) embarrassed him and how they were to give him a position and they stole it from him in a disrespectful way and other things like that.

“Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has his issues about how he ran and some people in his party did not support him.

“We sympathize with everyone who is coming, we know they’ve gone through a lot of trauma but our job is to say: whatever your job is, leave it at the door because this political party is not about politicians; it’s about the Nigerian people”, he added.

He further noted that membership registration is done at the ward level and urged intending members to familiarize themselves with the party’s constitution before joining.

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