I Can Sacrifice My 2027 Ambition For Better Candidate, Says SDP’s Adebayo

The 2023 presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Adewole Adebayo, says he is willing to step down his presidential ambition in the 2027 elections for a better politician to emerge as the flag bearer of his party.

“Everybody knows that I have an aspiration. I’m working on it, but God is the author of tomorrow; we don’t even know who will be around in 2027,” Adebayo said.

“It is my prayer to God that if there is a person who God thinks is better than me to resolve the problem of Nigeria, my ambition should not stop that person because we want a country that works. We are currently focused on achieving that goal.”

Adebayo said the SDP would give Nigerians a candidate that all citizens would be proud of and be ready to give a chance to unseat President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the next presidential election.

The politician said the SDP won’t divide Nigerians along the delicate lines of religion and ethnicity.

He said, “What used to be an easy discussion—with religion and ethnicity—has become explosive now.” So, we will not use the SDP forum to try to bifurcate our people into different zones.

“What we are looking for now is a system where, when we make a choice in the SDP, there will be resounding joy outside the SDP, and Nigerians will say, ‘Okay, finally, this platform has given the country a chance.’”

Ahead of the 2027 polls, talks about an inter-party alliance reached a climax on Thursday, March 20, 2025, when opposition arrowhead Atiku Abubakar, alongside former Anambra governor Peter Obi, ex-Kaduna governor Nasir El-Rufai, and others, announced a coalition to oust incumbent Tinubu, whose administration has been accused of mismanaging the economy, with all-time high inflation and unprecedented cost of living.

The coalition is banking on the numerical strength of the votes recorded by Atiku and Obi in the last poll. In 2023, Atiku of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party’s Obi came second and third, respectively, with combined votes of over 12 million, well over four million above the total votes recorded by Tinubu, who was declared the winner by electoral umpire INEC.

With a litany of court cases arising from intra-party squabbles and protracted leadership crises rocking the PDP and the LP, as well as alleged maltreatment of some APC members, politicians in the three parties seem to have made the SDP a darling.

Already, El-Rufai and some of his foot soldiers have joined the SDP. There have been talks about Atiku and Obi reportedly making moves to join the SDP, but both politicians have not made such a decision known officially.

Adebayo said the SDP welcomes all interested parties, but it will disinfect newcomers to prevent them from coming in with their own contaminants.

He said, “If you want to come to the SDP, you have to make sure that you allow us to apply disinfectant, not because we don’t respect you but because you are coming from a highly infected zone.

We followed the same protocol during the COVID-19 pandemic when visiting a friend’s house. If you love your friend, he will disinfect you so that you don’t infect others.

“We’ll do it with order. Our party’s constitution is well-sanitised. The party’s guidelines are wellsanitised. Chapter 2 of the constitution, around which we are organised to render services to the Nigerian people, describes the quality of leadership that we want, the processes untainted by criminality, bribery, excessive use of money, the notion of ethnicity, religionism, and all of that.

“They (the newcomers) told us about the calamity they were facing where they were coming from. Each of them talks about injustice. When Peter Obi left the PDP, he said there was criminality and injustice there. El-Rufai is not shy about his calamity; how they (APC members) embarrassed him, how they were supposed to give him a position, and how they stole it from him in a disrespectful manner, among other things.

“Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has his issues about how he ran, and some people in his party did not support him.

We extend our sympathies to everyone attending; we understand that they have endured significant trauma. However, our role is to remind them that this political party is not about politicians, but about the Nigerian people.

“Registration for membership is done at your ward level. So, it is up to every member to read the constitution of the party.”
party.”