The 2023 presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party, Prince Adewole Adebayo, has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s administration, describing it as a failure in handling national security and socioeconomic development.
Speaking in Ilorin, Kwara State, during an Iftar (breaking of fast) with his loyalists, Adebayo assessed Tinubu’s two-year performance and expressed deep concern over multiple crises plaguing the country, as well as what he termed intimidation and lawlessness within the National Assembly and Rivers State.
According to him, many Nigerians who initially saw Tinubu as a symbol of renewed hope, akin to the late Chief MKO Abiola, have been left disappointed.
He said, “Tinubu is the current champion of disgrace. Among the long lines that have been coming with it. Because it is a disgrace that you are not able to feed the poor in a land of plenty when you fix roads.
All of us who are here now, we came from Ondo, and our ears are banging as we are here now as if we went to an amusement park. So I think that we should have a serious government.
Our constitution is designed with serious language in it. They are expecting that the person who is the president, Head of State, or Commander-in-Chief will be someone who knows that this is the airport of black people in the world. And we should not be a basket case.
Poverty, insecurity, underdevelopment, unemployment, those are the things that we are having conversations about. There are those who want to get to power anyhow and they will combine even with the devil.”
Adebayo criticised past and present administrations for failing to address the economic challenges facing Nigerians, citing former President Muhammadu Buhari’s policy on agriculture as an example.
He said, “President Muhammadu Buhari came on national television and said, ‘In my government, there is no space for anybody. Go and farm.’ But he didn’t give lands, he didn’t give security, he didn’t give fertiliser. So, these people are not even talking to you. Tinubu is more of a president of France, maybe deputy president of France, than a president of Nigeria.
So we need to be serious, it is not about giving position, it’s about serving the people. The true position that is relevant in Nigeria is the position of a citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Let them say, ‘Why are you smiling?’ You’ll say because I’m a Nigerian. ‘Why are you well fed?’ Because I’m a Nigerian. ‘Why did you get this job?’ Because I’m a Nigerian. ‘Why do you feel safe to speak?’ Because I’m a Nigerian. When last did you count all the assets God gave to you and you remembered you are a Nigerian? That must happen in our lifetime.”
On the state of emergency declared in Rivers State, the SDP presidential flagbearer condemned Tinubu’s action as unconstitutional, saying it was unjustifiable to dissolve a democratically elected government without considering the interests of the people.
He stated, “The president removed elected officials, both in the legislative and executive arm. That is clearly unconstitutional, and the political leaders in the country, particularly in Rivers State, should remember that power that defines the constitution comes from the people and for the benefit of the people. They should resolve that issue immediately.
Well, the state of emergency is that the SDP has spoken about it. We feel like the president has declared an emergency, but the reason has not been given to us. We have also removed elected officials, both in the legislative and executive arm. That is clearly unconstitutional, and the political leaders in the country, particularly Rivers State, should remember that power that defines the constitution comes from the people and for the benefit of the people and that they should resolve the issue. The fact that an emergency had been declared for six months doesn’t mean that it can’t be resolved in six hours or six days.”
Adebayo called on the federal government to reconsider its stance and restore democratic structures in Rivers State.
The SDP candidate also criticised the National Assembly’s handling of the Rivers crisis and budget allocations, describing its role as unserious.
He said, “It is an unserious matter. The National Assembly is not set up for us to cooperate. The crisis in the National Assembly is how they approved a 55 trillion naira budget without anything for the people. How they approved almost 40 trillion last year, and nobody has seen anything.
And the National Assembly, when the President came to present this new fake budget, the Speaker said last year’s budget performed below 25 percent. So if you have a student who performed below 25 percent, will you promote that student to the next class?
So we should, especially the media, it is an opportunity to talk to you. It is not every sensation that is reported, focus more on what is happening, why Nigerian people are left behind. Even in Rivers State, I will speak about it. If you ask the media how much was Rivers State’s budget last year, how much went to the poor? How many children have been educated in Rivers State? They will not tell you. They tell you Wike, Fubara, Wike, Fubara. So the media needs to be a little more serious.”
He further criticised the legislature for prioritising political drama over governance.
“The National Assembly was not set up for romantic stories. It was set up for people to do the work of the Nigerian people and do more to return to that. The seriousness that is happening in Nigeria today, if you look at the thousands of hungry people, people who are kidnapped and their families are looking for ransom, children are out of school. There are so many problems in this country. The National Assembly should have no drama for boy and girl stories.”
Speaking on the influx of politicians into the SDP, Adebayo asserted that the party was committed to governance rather than elite politics.
He said, “What we know is that in this country, we are older than all these parties they are talking about. And this is a party of MKO Abiola. This is a party of Falaye. This is a party that has produced many people like Abubakar Rimi. This is a party for Solomon Lar. So all these people you are mentioning, where did they come from? The conspiracy that led to the creation of APC, where did this start? So these people who are the leaders of APC now, they were Farenda Boys in SDP. How can they be telling you what to do?”
He added, “For every known politician, for every former minister, for every ex-governor, and senators jumping to our party, there are millions of Nigerians joining the party. So it is now for the media to look for Nigerian people.
So it is part of the system to bring egalitarianism. That’s why Chapter 2 of the Constitution guarantees freedom of the press, and makes the press the fourth estate of the realm. So in fact, when we talk of the neglect of Nigerian people by the government, the neglect of the suffering of Nigerians by the media, or the legal system where I belong.”
Explaining why he hosted Iftar in Ilorin, Adebayo said the city held historical and religious significance.
He stated, “Ilorin is a well-known centre for Islam in Southern Sudan. The Southern Sudan worth in the whole Islamic calendar is called the Lower Sudan, so everybody all over the world knows that Ilorin is the centre for Islam. It is the city of Islamic knowledge, and I remember that even when I worked in North Africa and the Middle East, some of the most complex interpretations of Arabic and of Islamic traditions, they used to refer to the people of Ilorin here. But in addition to that, we are doing this in many parts of the country.”
