The presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Dr Adewole Adebayo, has challenged President Bola Tinubu to a public debate ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
Adebayo issued the challenge on Tuesday in Abuja while unveiling the SDP’s 2027 presidential manifesto, ‘Farewell to Poverty and Insecurity’.
He also promised that an SDP administration would establish four functional refineries and raise electricity generation to 75,000 megawatts if elected.
He said his administration would ensure Nigerians no longer paid international prices for petrol, proposing a pump price of no more than N200 per litre.
“The plan is to have four functional refineries in Nigeria and generate 75,000 megawatts of electricity. No Nigerian should be living in Nigeria and buying petrol at international prices. That is why we have arrived at N200 per litre for petrol,” he said.
Adebayo criticised the Tinubu administration, blaming successive governments for Nigeria’s worsening poverty, insecurity and economic difficulties.
He said the country’s problems stemmed largely from poor political leadership and called for a fundamental change in how Nigeria was governed, arguing that political office holders had used their positions to undermine the country’s resources, development and the hopes of ordinary Nigerians.
“The people who make these problems are those in the Villa, the government houses and the National Assembly,” he said.
He argued that changing the government required Nigerians to change how they approached politics, with greater emphasis on ideas, policies and accountability, and directly challenged Tinubu to defend his administration’s record.
“The first challenge is to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu: come out of hiding and debate. Anyone who wants to keep his job should be able to answer questions,” he said.
He questioned the administration’s handling of subsidy-removal savings and security spending: “Where have you been in the past four years? What have you been doing? Where is the money? Where is the money you saved from subsidy removal? Where are the trillions for security? Where is the CNG? Where is electricity?”
Adebayo also criticised the Central Bank of Nigeria, accusing it of failing to adequately protect the naira and promote productivity and employment.
He alleged the country had been “robbed in broad daylight” and called for stronger accountability in the management of public resources.
The SDP candidate promised to defeat insecurity within four years if elected. “We are promising that in four years, we are going to defeat insecurity,” he said, attributing much of the country’s insecurity to government failures and arguing that a new administration would be a major step toward fixing it.
“When you use your vote on January 16, 2027, to change the government, you have already gone 60 per cent of the way towards changing the way things are done,” he said.
He also called for greater national unity, urging Nigerians to stop viewing one another along ethnic, regional and other divisions, and said Nigeria must build an economy capable of providing productive opportunities at home rather than pushing citizens abroad.
Adebayo said the manifesto was meant to stimulate national debate rather than serve solely as an electoral document, arguing its policies could work under any party willing to adopt them.
“When you have a policy document that works, it will work if the Labour Party implements it. It will work if APC implements it. It will work if Accord implements it. It will work if ADC implements it,” he said, urging Nigerians to scrutinise, evaluate and challenge its proposals. “This policy has been given to Nigerians to start a conversation, not to end it,” he said.
Earlier, SDP National Chairman, Prof. Sadiq Gombe said the manifesto focused on tackling insecurity, boosting production and creating prosperity for Nigerians.
“For too long, Nigerians have been asked to endure without results,” he said, adding that the party’s goal was a Nigeria where citizens are secure, productive and prosperous.
SDP Vice-Presidential candidate, Dr Usman Bugaje said he and Adebayo were driven by a desire to rescue the country from poor political leadership.
”We are tired of the mess the politicians have brought to this country, we are here not because we have no job to do. We are otherwise very busy people,” he said.
SDP State Chairmen Forum chairman Hon. Femi Olaniyi, urged party members to take the manifesto to the grassroots and explain its proposals in language ordinary Nigerians could understand, describing it as a proposed framework for addressing poverty and insecurity rather than a mere campaign slogan.
He said the party would begin mobilisation around the document across states and local government areas, and announced the forum’s support for Adebayo’s bid with 100,000 posters and 37 billboards.
He urged members to return to their states and begin mobilising support for the SDP candidate ahead of the 2027 election.
Book reviewer Prof. Femi Olufumilade, a professor of political science, said Nigeria could achieve major transformation within four years with the right policies and strategies.
“I can assure you, based on my knowledge of how many countries have made great strides, that it is possible for a country to witness tremendous transformation within four years,” he said, citing China’s rise.
“China is today the second-largest economy in the world, performing neck and neck with the United States. As far as I am concerned, China has overtaken the United States economically. However, when certain parameters are considered, the United States is still ranked as the number one economy.
“China has the largest population and is the manufacturing centre of the world. But as of 1978, you can check the figures, China’s entire stock of foreign reserves was no more than 1.6 billion dollars, despite having a population of almost one billion people. It did not have up to two billion dollars in foreign reserves,” the professor added.
It may be recalled that the party had earlier embarked on a sensitisation campaign in and around the FCT to drive home its message of hope for citizens.
