The presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the 2023 election, Prince Adewole Adebayo on Monday, blamed the insecurity in the country on the failure of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to take governance serious, stating that the recent killings in Plateau and Benue States are outcomes of leadership failure.
Adebayo who spoke on the sideline of the fiftieth birthday ceremony of his wife, Queen Lilian Adebayo, in Abuja, argued that renewed killings in Plateau and Benue States indicate that the Tinubu administration has failed.
“Because we knew that these people don’t take governance seriously. They take elections seriously but not governance. The first duty of the president and the commander in chief is national security.
He encouraged Nigerians to vote out president Tinubu in the 2027 election, saying that Nigerians must take the bull by the horn, and sack the opposition through the ballot. “Nigerians need to take back the country from bad leaders,” he stated.
He urged that the president to overhaul and reorganize the country’s security architecture such that it addresses insecurity.
“What shocked me about Nigerians is that they are shocked about President Tinubu.”
The former presidential candidate described the killings in Benue and Plateau states as a disappointment: “What is happening in Plateau and Benue is a disappointment. I personally don’t like to politicize security. I think the president must be serious-minded and address the issue,” he added.
Lagos State Chairman of SDP and Chairman of Chairmen, Femi Ferrari, said his party provides Nigerians with the opportunity to address the country’s challenges.
“We can all understand what Nigerians are going through. We asked for change, but the change has shortchanged us,” he said.
He said advised the opposition against hijacking the SDP as a platform for personal political battles against President Bola Tinubu.
When asked if he would join the race for the presidency in 2027, Adebayo said: “My party knows that I’m running for the 2027 election. As for the coalition, we are listening to them. We don’t want to be a getaway car for a conspiracy and robbery we did not plan.”
He said if the coalition is for the Nigerian people, the SDP is available to support it. “But if the coalition is just a crime centre for disappointed followers of President Tinubu, they should go back to him and resolve their differences, they should not come to SDP to borrow us for a fight we are not involved in.”
National Secretary of the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP), Peter Ameh, who also spoke in the sideline of the event, said a coalition to change the leadership of Nigeria is a step in the right direction.
He stated: “For me, every gathering should have a little bit of discussion about how Nigeria should move forward because the current suffering that Nigerians are expressing under this incompetent governance system is something that we must halt.”
“When Nigerians coalesce, it’s a coalition against government. There is hunger on the streets, Nigerians are depressed, and there are high tariffs on electricity and data and increases in everything. Since President Tinubu came into office, the cost of living has gone so high.
“It’s a reflection of what we are going through and a reflection of the pains Nigerians are facing. Going into 2027, as you have said, let me tell you very clearly, the coalition is good,” he stated.
