The presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the 2023 general elections, Mr. Adewole Adebayo, has cautioned recent defectors to the party, making it clear that the SDP is not a dumping ground for political opportunists. In an exclusive interview with Oladipupo Awojobi, Adebayo, a successful lawyer, addressed current national issues, expressed concerns about the motivations of some political actors, and reaffirmed his continued interest in becoming the President of Nigeria. Excerpts:

For some Nigerians, the SDP has become the newest bride in town. Politically and for others, it has become a safe place for aggrieved politicians. How has it been receiving these politicians into the SDP?

Well, the position of the party is that every Nigerian who believes in it is welcome to join. And others who are not even involved in politics at all, who want to participate in politics, should come and join. That is the position that I am following. That is the directive of the leadership of the party; anyone and everyone, who loves Nigeria is welcome to join the party and that is where I stand.
Of course, some people who are joining the party are of special interest to the media or other interests. And the message that we are giving to the public and to those who are joining the party, is the same. It is not targeted at any person. It is a general directive to everyone that when you are coming to the SDP, you should pay attention to the Nigerian constitution.
They should pay particular attention to chapter two of the constitution, a fundamental objective and directive principle of state policy that states how we should govern ourselves and avoid the mis-governance that we are seeing now.

Then, they should also pay attention to the constitution of the SDP, because we take this constitution seriously. The SDP is not like other parties where they are coming from, where they violate their constitutions at will. In the SDP, since I joined the party, I have rarely seen any instance where any officer or institution of the party or group of members is trying to violate the constitution.
Thirdly, they should look at the manifesto of the party. It is basically for the welfare of the people. That is why we ran on farewell to poverty and insecurity. And even from the news that you used to introduce the programme tonight, that poverty and insecurity are still hanging around, close to two years after the APC government produced President Bola Tinubu, and 10 years after the APC came to power, if you started counting from President Muhammadu Buhari’s time. That is the focus of the SDP.

In your recent social media post, you said the Nigerian people will shock the establishment and the powers that be. Could you tell us more about what you meant by all that?

Well, what we see is that in every government, including this one, there’s always this fear of incumbency. People always say, ‘oh, it cannot be done.’ Of course, until 2015 when the APC came and it was done, people kept saying it couldn’t be done. So, that’s one part of it. And the other part is that, why it may look difficult is that there is a crop of politicians who find themselves in a position by accident. When they set out in politics, they are part of the establishment. But, the establishment is getting tinier and tinier because of the greed of the establishment. They are not baking a larger cake for the country. They are only fighting at the table, and the pieces of cake that they get are getting smaller in size, and their greed is increasing. So, some don’t even get anything at all. So, once those people have been excluded from the stolen buffet, they now come and become opposition, then when people see them, they say, what do you have because the paradigm that they see them using is a paradigm of the establishment. But, what is clear as of today in Nigeria is that any opposition that is genuine enough and people see credibility in that opposition, that opposition will defeat the incumbent any day. In 2015, the marauders of Nigerian politics realised that nobody would listen to them.

So they went and fetched former president Muhammadu Buhari, who had captured the imagination of the poor masses of the vast swathe of Northern Nigeria. And they now added yeast to that and baked a very large cake, talking about change and all of that. So, people bought into that. Now in 2027, the pathway for opposition is to first define what opposition is all about. The fact that you’re falling off the wagon, or you have been disfavoured by the establishment doesn’t make you an opposition, it makes you unemployed. The critical contradiction in opposition politics in Nigeria is that we now have many people whose opposition consists of changing only the incumbent without changing the system. They want to change the party in power without changing politics, whereas the party in power is not the cause of the problem in Nigeria.

Would you say these politicians who have found a home in your party understand the party’s ideology? If you think they do not, what is the leadership of the party doing to ensure that they do?

I joined the SDP at the age of 19, when the late Chief Lateef Jakande was leading the party. That was in 1991 and when the party was banned, I did not join another party. When Chief Olu Falae and many of our leaders brought the party back and I wanted to go back into politics, that is the party I came to. I’ve met many people who still believe in the manifesto of the party.

However, over time, generations of politicians come to the party from other political parties and some have taken time to inculcate the ideology of the party. You cannot blame those who are coming because they’re just coming and if someone is in the party for two weeks or two months, you cannot say that they have become dyed-in-the-wool, SDP members.

Some of them had a different background where they’re coming from and some have entered the party initially, not for ideological reasons, but just because it’s convenient, because for some politicians, a political party is a transactional vehicle. They don’t believe in what the party is saying. They just think that they need a party.

But, when we come to the party we all get tutored by what the party stands for and we all get challenged from time to time.

So, the people who need more education than the rest are the political elites, especially the class that came into politics in 1999, who believe that politics is about what you can grab, steal and run away with and that the people don’t exist, they’re just noise in the background. You only need them on election day and all you need to do is package some money and give to them and you don’t need to bother about them after that.

So, these people have difficulty dealing with the SDP, but we believe in the redemption of everyone and we believe that if you pay attention, you can perfect it, and you can understand it because the country needs a good political party if we are going to be saved.

Talking about redemption, you’ve been speaking a lot these days, especially after the influx of the new members into your party, and I think your followers appreciate that but some people feel that you’re threatened by accepting former governor Nasir el-Rufai into your party; is that feeling true?

Well, I didn’t get anything much from that. I heard you mentioning my brother, Nasir el-Rufai, he is welcome to the party. But many more people have joined the party without any media attention. In fact, people who are senior to el-rufai in politics have been in the party before and many are joining. And if you look at our state branches, we are receiving people all the time. But, I think some people have media targets on their back or they court the media. For example, if you join a political party, you hold a media welcome party for yourself, you take pictures of yourself and you put it on social media and you keep commenting, the media will pay attention to you. But, some have joined the party by paying attention to the community where they come from, growing the party quietly in their community, taking time to study and asking questions about what the party stands for. And they are working very hard without media attention because they believe that it is when the party gets accepted by the people that you can say that the party will come to power. And all these promises that are contained in our constitution can actually be delivered to the people and people will say, thank God, we have a government making life easier for us as we are going through these difficult times of our age. But, there are some, whose style of politics draws attention and they like it and they create buzz for the party and we thank them for that.

But, the party is not about media attention, particularly. It’s about going to the grassroots and working and making sure that we don’t put ourselves in a situation where we say, ‘oh my God, so in the SDP, there’s no difference too. It’s like an APC.’ God forbid. And that’s what we’re working on.

I asked that question because you were quoted to have said that the SDP is not a getaway car for a conspiracy and robbery. At another time, you said you would not be bullied to step down. So it appears you’re still interested in the 2027 presidential race…

Yes, by God’s grace. Only God knows tomorrow, but I’m highly interested and our members are interested and everyone who has been in the party before, who is joining the party, that’s a fact.
It’s as constant as saying that there are seven days in a week. So people know that, alright.

You said you’re willing to step down for a stronger candidate. What could have led you into saying different things in a space of one month or two? Some concluded that you may have been bullied, is that correct?

What I have said to the media is that it is not about me. My interest in serving the country is not unknown to anyone. But, my waking up in the morning, breathing, working for my party, and working for the country is not just about me. It’s about the people of Nigeria who are suffering. And I said that if there is any person whom God says is going to be able to solve the problem of Nigeria better than me, I don’t pray that my own ambition should stop that person.

I, personally, haven’t seen such a person yet. And I’m not closing my eyes to any person. What I’m saying is that as a person, I believe that Nigeria is not so unfortunate that I will be the only patriot in the country and I’m the only good man in the country. I’m doing my best for my country and I’m offering myself, but in the course of time, if there is anybody that is also a patriot and is there only for the people, and I believe that this person is good, I will support him.

And I’m not going to sabotage the contest. If God says that’s the person who is going to defeat me, I’m not going to sabotage the person or work against the person. As for bullying, I don’t know.