Social Democratic Party presidential candidate, Prince Adewole Adebayo, has vowed to defend the 1999 Constitution by tackling poverty and insecurity head-on if elected president in 2027.
In a statement on Monday, Adebayo said , he told supporters in Bauchi that Chapter II of the Constitution, the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy, mandates government to prioritize the welfare and security of Nigerians.
He stressed that an SDP government would make those constitutional goals the basis of policy, not political rhetoric.
“The Constitution is clear. Section 13 makes it the duty of all organs of government to conform to, observe and apply the provisions of Chapter II. And Section 23 says the national ethics shall be Discipline, Integrity, Self-reliance and Social justice. We will use that as our governance compass to end poverty, end insecurity, and restore dignity to citizens,
“Power belongs to the people of Nigeria and it is from the people that power and government will derive. The SDP presidency would not snatch, grab or run away with it,” he said..
Adebayo said justice and social democracy are constitutional principles that align with the SDP’s ideology, adding that Nigeria’s resources must be used for the welfare and security of citizens, a principle he claimed the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, does not uphold.
He accused President Bola Tinubu of running government like a business, comparing his style to George Taubman Goldie of the Royal Niger Company. He alleged the president views Nigerians as commodities to be bought and sold for personal gain.
“Of all the people who have had the privilege to govern Nigeria, there’s none of them that President Tinubu copies anything good from,” he added, citing the colonial company’s role in removing Oba Ovonramwen of Benin and Jaja of Opobo as examples of treating Nigeria as a market.
The SDP candidate urged Nigerians to understand that politics is not comedy, noting it determines security, education, health and livelihoods. He decried killings by terrorists and bandits, and avoidable road accidents, blaming them on bad politics and governance.
Adebayo outlined targets for his first years in office, promising that poverty would drop to 2% within 18 months and unemployment to 4% in two years.Saying, “one-third of savings from cutting corruption would fund roads in every village, hamlet and street within four years.”
On education and health, he pledged free, compulsory and qualitative schooling from elementary to tertiary levels until graduates secure jobs. He also promised free healthcare for all Nigerians, with the National Identity Number doubling as health insurance and four free medical screenings annually.
He vowed to revive moribund industries inherited from the First and Second Republics, including Ajaokuta Steel, Oku Iboku Paper Mill, Aladja Steel, Bacita Sugar, Kaduna and Gombe textiles, and the nation’s refineries.
“Every state will have textile, cement, carpentry, wood, everything so that our people will not only have factories, they will have housing estates, staff schools and staff clubs,” he stated.
Adebayo promised to restore Nigeria’s territorial integrity and rebuild a strong military respected globally. He also said terrorists and bandits would leave with Tinubu, and pledged that no part of Nigeria would remain unsafe under an SDP government led by him.
