The presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, in the 2023 election, Prince Adewole Adebayo, has cautioned Nigerians against the emergence of some former government officials as opposition figures ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He accused such officials of being part of the system that created the country’s current challenges.
In an interview, weekend, Adebayo said replacing the administration of President Bola Tinubu with politicians who previously held power without solving key national problems would not bring the desired change.
“You cannot say you are against corruption or bad governance and then align with the same people who created the problem,” he said.
Taking a swipe at opposition figures who recently moved into the African Democratic Congress, ADC, he argued that many of them had spent years in government without introducing meaningful reforms.
He said some of those now criticising the current administration were part of governments that ignored opportunities to strengthen democratic institutions, including reforms to electoral laws.
“If you were in the Senate for 20 years and didn’t bring a single progressive law to improve elections, you cannot suddenly present yourself as the champion of electoral reform,” he said.
The SDP leader maintained that his party would not form alliance with such politicians, insisting that doing so would contradict the principles it stands for.
“If I work with them as presently constituted, then I am a hypocrite because these same people represent the bad governance we are fighting,” he added.
Adebayo said Nigeria’s political future should not be a contest between rival groups of elite politicians but a movement driven by ordinary Nigerians seeking genuine reforms.
