SDP not anti-Tinubu, but anti-poverty, insecurity – Adebayo

Leader of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and its presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, Prince Adewole Adebayo, has said his party is not against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as a person but against under-development, insecurity, poverty, devaluation of the naira, lack of transparency and wastefulness, which characterise his government.

He noted that even though he wishes the President well and prays for him, he would not hesitate to speak up and proffer better alternatives when the president begins to churn out wrong-headed policies.

His words: “I wish the President well, and I pray for him every day. I tell everybody who wants to pray for anybody in this country to pray for President Tinubu because anything he does has effect on the security of Nigerians or the welfare of Nigerians and the progress of the country.

“However, when he is having wrong-headed policies, it is my duty to point them out; not only that, it is also my duty to proffer alternatives to Nigerians and demonstrate to Nigerians that those alternatives are better. And that when you have an opportunity, just walk away from Tinubu and APC and their policies for the sake of your children and grandchildren, seek alternatives. Consider the SDP and our platform. There is no enmity in that.

“The SDP is not anti-Tinubu. The SDP is anti under-development, anti-poverty, anti- insecurity, anti-devalued currency, anti-lack of transparency and wastefulness. We are anti-unemployment. And Tinubu just happens to produce a lot of those things now. And so sometimes when we talk about it, it will look like, oh, we are against the president, but we have been talking about this thing for a long time; even under Jonathan. We are consistent about that.”

He called on Nigerians to walk away from President Tinubu and his All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2027 presidential election and embrace the SDP for their own good.

He lamented the state of the textile industry, the petroleum industry as well as agricultural sector in the country, stressing that many people are disappointed with President Tinubu because they thought that he would have fixed those sector in the last two years of his government.

“Our textile industry is gone. Our petroleum industry is just about to restart a good thing now, after two decades of doldrums. Our agriculture is not working. So, it doesn’t matter that President Tinubu is there now; whoever is there now, our criticism will be the same. But many people are disappointed that President Tinubu whom they thought would be able to do very good work has not managed to show that,” he said.

Adebayo noted that he was not disappointed with Tinubu’s performance, which was why he contested against him in 2023.

“That was why I opposed him. That was why I ran against him last time, and that is why I’m going to run against him now, if the opportunity comes my way.

“The issue is that speaking against traffic jam doesn’t mean you hate drivers. Speaking against hunger doesn’t mean you hate the Minister of Agriculture. Speaking against poor academic grades doesn’t mean you hate the Minister of Education. It is that these are things we shouldn’t have. I don’t like an epileptic power supply, but it doesn’t mean I hate the minister in charge of power. It’s just that these are not good things to have.

“The President is making a lot of Nigerians poor. He is leaving millions behind, and a lot of money is being spent on the budget and outside the budget, which are not reflecting in the welfare of the people.

“It doesn’t matter who is there. These are not good things. And these are things even the President himself, when he was in the opposition, campaigned against, and I believe that in his heart of heart, he should not be satisfied,” he added.