2027: El-Rufai can’t hijack SDP for personal political battles – Adebayo

Prince Adewole Adebayo, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, has made it clear that former Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, and other opposition figures cannot hijack the party for personal political battles against President Bola Tinubu.

Speaking during the 50th birthday celebration of his wife, Queen Lillian Adebayo, in Abuja on Monday night, Adebayo asserted that the SDP is not a “getaway car for conspiracy and robbery.”

His comments come as El-Rufai has been making headlines following his departure from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), a party he helped establish.

However, Adebayo who said he was still in the race for the 2027 presidential elections, maintained that SDP is not a platform for personal political battles.

READ ALSO: Tinubu’s govt is worst, most corrupt in Nigeria’s history – El-Rufai

“Of course, 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. That’s not available.

“If the coalition is for the Nigerian people, the SDP is available. But if it is just a crime centre for disappointed Tinubu followers, they should go back to him and resolve their differences there. Don’t come to SDP to borrow us for a fight we are not involved in,” he said.

On the killings in Benue, Plateau and some other parts of the country, Adebayo urged the president to restrategise the security architecture to address insecurity in the country.

Also speaking at the sidelines at the event, former African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, dismissed the ongoing coalition move by opposition elements ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Sowore said he was in support of coalition and opposition in a democratic setting but argued that the individuals involved in the current coalition move lack the credibility to champion real change.

“I support coalitions and opposition. But not the kind that has people like El-Rufai. When the time comes, the moment they are offered what they want, they will go back to where they came from.

“The APC was a coalition. Did you forget? The people who are asking to form another coalition were former APC members. In fact, most of them were Buhari cabinet members who are supposed to be in prison forming a union of prisoners, not coalitions,” Sowore said.

On his part, Chairman Forum SDP State Chairmen and SDP Lagos Chairman, Hon. Femi Olaniyi Ferrari, said the 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.

(DailyTrust)