Prince Adewole Adebayo, the leader of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, and its 2023 presidential candidate, offers a sharp critique of Nigeria’s current political landscape while outlining his vision ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Rejecting the popular narrative that the opposition space is shrinking, Adebayo argues that true democracy lies not in the number of governors or political defections, but in the will and welfare of the Nigerian people. Excerpts:
The APC is retaining dominance in the governance of the country, is this not shrinking opposition in the country especially as we move towards 2027 general election?
There is no shrinking opposition space. It all depends on if you think democracy is about public office holders alone or democracy is about politicians alone. The way democracy is supposed to work and that is how it is going to work in Nigeria, there is no way out of it is that the majority sentiment or tendency among the Nigerian electorate will determine the state of our democracy and the direction of the country.
The idea that the we can play the politics of incumbency which is basically what they are doing is counting the ratio of the incumbents, incumbent governors, where are they? Incumbent senators, where are they? Incumbent president, where is he? That is not how democracy works. I am not aware of any democracy that is healthy anywhere in the world, where you have an opinion poll and is counting how many senators or counting how many governors. Usually what you count is whether the people of the country are more hopeful about the future than they were before. Whether they approve the performance of the government of the day or not, whether they side with government of the day on key issues or they side with the opposition, where they will likely vote on certain issues because the media should stop being obsessed with the incumbent.
The media should try to hear from the ordinary people and it doesn’t matter how many governors you have, borrow or snatch, what matter is, do people feel better about governance.
How do you feel that the SDP is not the ADC that is merging with other parties to challenge the APC in 2027?
It’s not relevant to me because it’s all part of their narrative, it is not my business. What I care about is that whatever position I take on politics would align with where the people of Nigerians want to go would align with the constitution of Nigeria. If 36 governors decide to go to one party, it is not my business to comment on that because I have been in the SDP since 1991, and I am not going anywhere
Some are more peripatetic. That’s their style of politics. If you complain that governors are moving to the APC for example, then, why are you celebrating when some lawmakers move to your side at the National Assembly? This hypocrisy is not my line of thinking. What is important to me is what is the quality of these people who are moving? Are they moving with the people? Their own ratings are quite low, all of them. They are not solving any of the problems. There is no state in Nigeria that is safe, secure, good employment record, accountability record, there is none that is not having one corruption issue or the other. No state that is handling its business properly such that these failed incumbents all have one thing in common.
The fact that ADC decides to be a copycat because the APC is wooing and receiving governors into their midst, we are not worried about that. That is still the politics of incumbency and we have always maintained in the SDP that ADC is a branch of the APC and APC is a scion of the PDP. They are in a relay of failure, handing the baton from one failed administration to the other and what the ADC people are trying to do is to join the queue because in this rotational inefficiency and failure, some of them have taken their turn and they are not been favoured presently.
What is that style of politics that you are not in tune with?
I am not in tune with politics of hypocrisy. For example, somebody who spent 20 years in the Senate, passed four Electoral Acts, didn’t make any meaningful contribution to improve electoral efficiency, expand democracy and credibility and spent eight of out of those 20 years as Senate President, was Senate President when they received the Uwais Report, they didn’t do anything to make election transparent, to make it work, now you come out because you are not the incumbent, you start to scream blue murder on something you had an opportunity to deal with.
When you were Minister of Justice and Attorney General, there was no rule of law, there was corruption, lack of credibility, total breach of trust and of the constitution and now you are out, you are screaming. That is the kind of politics we don’t want, politics of personality without principle, jumping from place to place and whose attitude to politics depends on whether it favours them today or not.
We in the SDP are not looking for members of the National Assembly to cross into our party. We are joining the movement called FixNass which is to say none of them should return because if you look at the journey from 1999 to date and the trillions that we passed in appropriation all gone with not much to show for it.
Nigeria needs a new National Assembly with virtually no incumbent coming back. Send patriotic, intelligent, independent minded people there. That is what we are trying to do now by revamping the system and not be a beneficiary of the broken incumbency.
Why should Nigerians trust a smaller party over large party with more visibility?
Your question shows the symptoms of the three problems in Nigeria. One; there is no political class. What we have is a rump of military apologists, those who are fronts for the military government and some people with all kinds of idleness, came together, took over power because of the manner in which the military left in 1999. This people don’t care about any party. What we have now are people who are desperate to belong in government, desperate to be in positions somewhere in government.
Secondly, APC is not the problem but a symptom. APC is a mutation of political cancer where desperate politicians who have nothing in common can be alarmed by the possibilities that the PDP might live up to its boast that it might live up to 60 years in power, they gather together as there was nothing that would ordinarily connect Muhammad Buhari with Bisi Akande, it was impossible. There was no ideological reconciliation. What they did was just come together and the things they said they were going to do, they couldn’t do it.
Some of the PDP people are like rats on a ship. They realised the PDP ship was sinking and became the New PDP and joined them. Anybody who understands Nigerian politics and history will say the APC is the problem. APC is a flash in the pan, it is another nightmare in the management of the psyche of the Nigerian politics. By the time we defeat them in 2027 they will be gone in 7 days as nobody will remember them, they stand for nothing, they have no ideas, they just sit down there wasting their time.
What we need to do in the opposition is not to poach one politician to your side or the other because they are all rotten eggs, what we need to do is to go back to the people and open this stinking room of politics so that fresh air can come in, bring fresh people who are patriotic people, who have practised professions, who have led group of people with integrity, character and push them into politics. I used to be a critic on television for a long time and I realised that why not put your hat in the ring, propose ideas so we need more people who are not seen as politicians but good citizens, good leaders and civic examples.
The Nigerian voter may not be able to differentiate between SDP, APC and ADC because he/she seem not to know the difference in ideology of these parties. What is your take?
Whoever thought about that seems not to understand and know Nigerians. You think Nigerians are stupid? The problems Nigerians have with politicians is that they are not speaking to their issues, they are speaking about abuse and personal certificate, ethnicity, religion. Speak to the fact that there is insecurity in the country, poverty in the country and lay out plan as we are laying in the SDP on how to solve the problems of insecurity, poverty, perennial injustice at every level of the country. These are the things people go to the mosques and churches pray over.
The primaries of political parties are now either by consensus or direct primary. What is your take on this?
My point is that President Tinubu is not a bold statesman. He has mismanaged the opportunity given to him to put his signature to the Electoral Act which he messed up. However, democracy cannot fall or rise based on one person who is misusing his office. As politicians, though we are complaining about the imperfections in the Act, but we need to remember that there was a time we were under colonial rule, we had elections and we got independence, there was a time we were under military rule, we still had elections and Abiola still won.
It is possible if we give the people on our side the reason to succeed despite all the booby traps in the Electoral Acts. The timetable is okay as far as I am concerned. What will make the difference whatever the antics of President Tinubu is when Nigerians stand aloof, if they are disaffected, if they are pathetic, then democracy is not going to take root.
Do you have what the Nigerians want?
I have what the Nigerians want and honestly, just understand their issues but I don’t want to grab power, snatch it and run away with it. I want to go and debate issues, carry them along and make sure that on election day, every concerned Nigerian is there voting. I pray that people can come out so that we can have at least 75% turn out so that whoever that gets the majority will have substantial involvement because the task ahead requires Nigerians themselves to dig themselves out of the hole and contribute to the solution of the country.
Will you be contesting in 2027?
By God’s grace I have told my party that I want to be the presidential candidate of the SDP in 2027 and I want to win it for Nigerians. That is my prayer which is why I am working. In addition to that, I want Nigerians to treat 2027 not as a year of politicians getting coronated, rather as a turning point because there is no more room in the direction we are going, there is no more room for insecurity, no more poverty, unemployment, no more inflation, deficit in the economy, no more blackout, no more broken down infrastructure, no more room for hospitals that don’t function. What we need is for us to change direction and use the resources of the country to develop the country and to equitable distribute opportunities and ensure that Nigerians can be proud of their politicians and their leaders, the way the Catholics are proud of the Pope.
