Adewole Adebayo is not only a member of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), he was also the presidential candidate of the party in the 2023 elections. In this interview, Adebayo provides new details into the defection of a former governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, from the ruling party at the federal level, All Progressives Congress (APC), into his SDP. He insinuates that the SDP is on its way to becoming a mega party ahead of the 2027 elections as, according to him, more leaders of the APC as well as those of other parties are joining the party, some secretly. Excerpts:

The Impression many people have is that your party?s net just caught a big fish with Nasir El-Rufai joining. It is also rumoured in some quarters that El-Rufai is probably the biggest personality in the party. Is this the beginning of more defections expected into the party?

El-Rufai is not a fish at all. He is a fellow fisherman. So, he has just joined us on our fishing expedition. So, he is an outfit fisherman, who knows the waters and the ropes.

He has joined us. Many have joined. So, I don?t see how the media determines who is bigger than who, but what we are looking for is that every Nigerian who understands the predicament we are in would want to join the SDP as a credible platform. Attahiru Bafarawa has joined the SDP, for example. He is a former governor in his state. A lot of people have joined him. I am not going to steal the thunder of others because everyone has their protocol of announcement. So, somebody wants to send a tweet tomorrow. If I tell you he has joined today, then you have stolen his thunder.

Somebody who has to seek support from his family and associates, you go and now say today he is going to join next week. You have already upset their plans. So, many will join. The summary of it is that we are looking for fishermen because Nigeria?s ship has sunk and we need to go into the depths of the ocean to rescue the country. And I think that every Nigerian should think about what they need to do to get this country out of the situation we find ourselves in. Nothing is working. And those who want to join other political parties are free to join as well. But I think that to understand the sense of urgency the country is going through now, the SDP is a viable place for them to come.

What exactly did the party induce El-Rufai, Bafarawa and others with for them to say they are coming to SDP, and how did it happen?

It?s because it?s inherent in every Nigerian. And I can perceive it even from your voice that every Nigerian has that inherent patriotism in them. It is when they have ambition, they have fears, they have worries, they have animosity towards somebody, or they have something they?re looking for. That?s when they suppress and sublimate their patriotism. What we did was to go around and try to awaken patriotism in people. El-Rufai is 65 years of age with his massive talent. He has the brain of 50 people combined. He has the courage of 1,000 people and he is ready to work. So, we reached out to him and said ?why don?t you come and work with the SDP? You can use the SDP to work?. And let us see, and many more will join. Imagine, even from the ruling party, they should prepare themselves for a robust and viable alternative platform that they can compete with and our democracy will be awoken. People will not be frustrated.

People will not say ?what can we do now?? Because Tinubu must know that after two years in office, there will be millions of people who don?t like him and his policies. Not liking Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) should not translate to losing interest in the country or losing confidence in democracy. And people will not be thinking of any other extra-constitutional method and all of that. So, it is good for everybody to have a new set of political class that is competitive. That is everywhere; and the platform is national. That?s what the SDP is. The party is not a sectional one or a fractional one. It is a very strong platform that delivered the presidential election in 1993. And it has gradually been rebuilding and will deliver presidential, gubernatorial, National Assembly and other legislative victories in 2027. So, it is good for people to come, and that?s what we will be telling them.

We will show them our rules. We are going to be fair and reasonable, and they do not need to have any fear that we will not be reasonable. All the other tribulations and injustice or whatever they said they went through, we will say no. Here is a fair platform and the party is not ruled by anybody.

Many had fears before that with Adebayo there, how would they even have a breathing space, but we assured them that everything is by process and that due process would be followed. Every institution will treat you equally, and it?s not a place where you can express any discrimination. It?s a place where you come and express your talent, and if you come and meet someone more talented than you, then so be it. You will understand why you had aspirations and your hand did not reach the aspiration. It?s because somebody more qualified than you is there. That way, you understand that you need to improve on yourself and no door is shut against anyone. Those are the things which we believe have moved people when they see the amount of hard work.

We started like somebody who had a wheelbarrow and tried to compete with somebody who has a big trailer. And they saw the energy with which we were doing the work undeterred. They realized that, maybe, those who have pickups could join us, and those who have other things can join us, and then we can become more competitive. That?s the whole idea, and we keep the discipline, we don?t drop the ball.

We stick to our Constitution. We stick to Chapter 2 of the Nigerian Constitution. We stick to the manifesto of the party, and we stick to the feedback we are getting from the people, and we don?t take shortcuts. We don?t introduce criminality, bribery and all of that, and we communicate with the people. We don?t try to get the power by passing it to people. We want the people to put us there. If we stick to all of that, it will be a resounding success not only for the SDP but also for all democrats in Nigeria.

It?s like there?s a deal between your party and El-Rufai because many believe he is pursuing a presidential ambition. And if that is so, what happens to your presidential bid?

You see, all these are speculations and speculations upon speculations. What I know regarding El-Rufai?s presidency is that he is qualified by age and by other requirements to aspire. He has not said he wants to aspire. If he aspires, it has been written down by God, and it means that I will have to defeat him before I become president. That?s the only way I see it. But as it is, he has been speaking with us.

He didn?t just fall Into the room through the ceiling. He was on his own. I will be talking to him. And we?ll be interacting. And he?s coming; none of it is news to us. None of it is unwanted by us. His coming, we desire it and we have had a lot of discussions and this issue has not even come up at all. What has come up is the plight of Nigerian people, the suffering masses and how we can explain the problem to our people so they can believe that solutions that are real can come. I know what he knows about generating electricity for the country. It aligns with what I know, too, because this is operational research. We understand. We know the kind of leadership we need to give, and these are the things we are discussing. So if that happens in the future that he develops the presidential ambition, I will not regret supporting him to come to the party because I will consider it that God has written it down that on my way to the presidency, I have to defeat El-Rufai to get there. And I will work hard along that line, but I?m not worried at all. Unlike El-Rufai, some people who have expressed presidential ambition have been setting up committees, but we are still encouraging them to come. I have not told the party that anybody who wants to run for president should not come in. That would be selfish.

That would be defeatist. That would not serve the party well and won?t serve the country well. We have said for anybody who is coming, the process will be fair, no commitment of crime, no forgery of documents, no bribery of delegates, no cheating and no violation of the law. If we go through that competitive and fair and legitimate process, whoever emerges at the end of it would have been qualified to aspire for the position and that person would be a better person. I think that some of us whose presidential ambition is not hidden, they respect that and they know that we are not going to use any foul means to gain advantage.

How is this defection adding value to your party because there is speculation that El-Rufai may have a joint ticket with Peter Obi?

I don?t know all these names you are mentioning; they have not come to our party. Only El-Rufai is our member, and he is our member on merit. We desire to have him. He is not our member because somebody else is hoping to pair with him or whatever. We award him as our member because of who he is and what he can do. It has nothing to do with presidential ambition or anything. It is a fact that, give him six months in the party you will see the amount of work he will have done for the party. Give him three months, and you will see the amount of work he will have done. In the last several months that we have been having pre-joining discussions with him and preliminary work, everything he said he was going to do, he has done.

Everything is good, and he has delivered every assignment given to him. Every milestone has been reached. So, we have no concern that he will be a good party person. Some of them are just trying their best to pursue their ambition. And the SDP may just be one factor they are considering, but they are free to go anywhere they like. Ambition is not a crime. But the SDP is not available to be used for the ambition of people who are desperate and indiscriminate. The SDP is for those who look?at our ideology, our manifesto, our platform and the kind of leadership we have given to the opposition; those who say they want to join us. But people who are coming in from the first day with the ambition on their faces are not welcome.

The person who wants to come in, become a member of our party, settle in the party, blend with us, if he develops ambition, we are not going to say we regret having him around. But those who are coming in, looking for a platform to buy and pursue their ambition, are wasting their time. The SDP is not like any other party where you can just say ?how much do I give you to give me the mandate or ticket?? The SDP is not like that. You have to come in, go to your ward, join, understand the party, and see how the process works, and if you want to persuade any party member to allow you to vie for any position, then you can do so.

With what is going on, some see SDP as the new face of opposition in Nigeria. Could this be true?

SDP is the true face of the incoming government. That?s how we see ourselves. If that is what they think of us, fine, no problem. We are just consistent. We have been the opposition even before Tinubu came. Our manifesto was a different one. Our agenda was a different one. So, we just remain consistent. More people are listening to us. Many people come up to me when I go around. ?Oh, we were carried away by the frenzy of the 2023 election, and we didn?t listen to you enough. We will be listening to you. We now understand you?.

Some people opposed us before. And they said, ?well, I only opposed you because you didn?t have any government experience. Now that we have tested those who have government experience and you are far better than them, what you predicted has come to pass. We are now ready to join you?. So, the people are acknowledging a fact, which has always been there, that the SDP has been the real oppositeion. If they are acknowledging it, it is like my Igbo brothers and sisters would say, anytime you wake up, you say, ?good morning?. So, for those who see us now as the new face of opposition, we thank them and those who have always known that they were the true opposition. We know them, and we will continue to do the work until we deliver the Nigerian people; we cannot rest.

Given the fact that some elements in the North are saying the Presidency must return to the North, is the Southern Presidency for 2027 still possible?

The Presidency Is neither in the North nor in the South. The Presidency is in the hands of the wrong people right now. So what we want to do is to return the Presidency to the people of Nigeria. The Presidency that is there now doesn?t serve East, doesn?t serve West, doesn?t serve North, doesn?t serve South. It?s a self-serving one. So all this is just a waste of time. What we want is a Presidency that works. So there is nothing called Southern Presidency or Northern Presidency. What we have is a government that serves the people or does not serve the people. The one that is there now does not serve the people. And we need to bring one that serves the people. Those are the conversations we are having. We don?t know what the hegemonists are thinking elsewhere. But in the SDP, we look at the government, we look at Chapter 2 of the Constitution, we look at our manifesto, and we look at the programmes of that government. When we compare, we know that APC is not on the side of the people. Just like the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) before, they have not been on the side of the people. So, let us come to power and show a government that is on the side of the people. So, as we are talking today, people are fasting, but Christians and Muslims and most families are hungry.

There is no disparity in the hunger in the North, or in the South, or in the East, or in the West. People have children and they are unemployed. There is no better employment in the North or in the South.

When it comes to insecurity, everybody who leaves his house is praying hard, and those who are in their houses are having sleepless nights. So, if it comes to the economy, unstable currency, inflation, and all of these other factors, costs that are arising, a poorly performing budget, it doesn?t favour the North, and it doesn?t favour the South. So, these discussions are not of priority to us. What is a priority to us now is to ask ourselves a question: are there no patriots left in this country?

Are there not any more competent people left in this country? Are there not any honest people left in this country? If the answer is that there are, then where are they and why are they not marching to the SDP? That is the clarion call, and that is why I have been in Kaduna State for the past few days. I just returned to Abuja, and I?m taking the journey to another place. We are going round the country and ringing this bell; if there is still any honest man left in this country, show your face now and come and join us. If there is still any patriot left in this country, show your face now and come and join us. And if there is anybody who is self-righteous that wants to do what is right, come and join us because that is the clarion call.

The Tinubu administration is almost two years in office. Can you assess its performances so far?

It has been working off the syllabus. So, most of what they have done is off-syllabus because the syllabus for governance in Nigeria is the constitution. The syllabus is particular about the area of concentration, and that area of concentration is Chapter 2 of the constitution. Even with their watered-down Renewed Hope, they have not even gone five percent of the way. Their budget last year underperformed, and even the President acknowledged that the budget performed below 30 percent. So, they have scored themselves. President Tinubu was at the joint plenary of the Senate and the House of Representatives, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives said while President Tinubu was presenting the budget that the previous year?s budget underperformed. So, what more do I have to say? Is it in the area of insecurity, people are being carried up and down like cattle and the families have to redeem them back like goats. Which area do we have? Is it in the area of employment?

He Is doing a programme now to get the youth to come and do conferences. He is not taking the youth to the factories and the farms to go and work and produce. He is bringing them like late Sani Abacha to Abuja to be entertained and be given compensation. He is not directing the youth to go and work. He is not recruiting them to the armed forces. He is not recruiting them to the civil services. He is not recruiting them into commerce, agriculture, or railways. Nothing, he is wasting their time. So, what is the performance? Where is the performance? Look at the appointment.

Where is the diversity? Where is the diversity of talent? Where is the diversity of gender? Where is the diversity of ethnicity? Where is the diversity of religion? Where is the diversity of ideological perspectives? Where is the creativity? So, do I need to say more? So, they are on their way out. What we are trying to do is usher them in an orderly fashion. (Sunday Vanguard)

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