The presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party in the 2023 election, Adewole Adebayo, has accused President Bola Tinubu of attempting to manipulate opposition political parties and weaken democratic competition ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Speaking during an interview on ARISE News on Tuesday, Adebayo alleged that the president was seeking to exert influence not only within opposition parties but also over institutions expected to remain independent in a democracy.
“You can’t be candidate general of the opposition. You have to stick to your own party,” Adebayo said.
“The president wants to belong to every political party, also act as the chairman of INEC, and the part-time chief justice of Nigeria.”
The former SDP presidential flagbearer made the remarks while responding to reports of internal divisions within the party and claims by one Akinbola Atanda that he was also a presidential candidate of the SDP.
Dismissing the claim, Adebayo said the party neither recognised Atanda as a member nor as an aspirant.
“We don’t know him in the SDP. We don’t know him,” he stated.
“Well, I could say I’m the Pope, but I’m not. You see, the Catholics know who’s the Pope.”
Adebayo further alleged that the administration of President Tinubu was deliberately creating confusion within opposition parties as part of a broader political strategy ahead of the next election cycle.
“I know President Tinubu is the author of all of this drama,” he said.
According to him, the ruling All Progressives Congress was uncomfortable with genuine political competition and was instead attempting to orchestrate weak opposition structures.
“The whole idea is not to have competition,” Adebayo said.
“And they want to master that by having pseudo candidates in other political parties and have a coronation.”
He also criticised the conduct of primaries within the APC, alleging that the party merely staged democratic processes rather than conducting genuine internal contests.
The comments add to growing political rhetoric ahead of the 2027 elections, with opposition figures increasingly accusing the ruling party of attempting to dominate Nigeria’s political space. Neither the presidency nor the APC had officially responded to Adebayo’s allegations as of the time of filing this report.
