Count Me Out – SDP’s Adebayo Rejects Datti’s Verdict On Tinubu’s Opponents

The presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the 2027 general elections, Adewole Adebayo, has rejected former Labour Party vice-presidential candidate, Datti Baba-Ahmed’s assessment that none of the 2027 contenders can fix Nigeria.

Datti, who was the running mate to Peter Obi in the 2023 presidential election, had declared that none of those currently seeking the presidency in 2027 would be able to improve the country, including Obi, who is now the presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

Speaking on the Mic On Podcast, Datti said Obi had left his “comfort zone” after abandoning the Labour Party.

He said, “None of the people contesting will improve Nigeria, including Peter Obi. Peter Obi left his comfort zone; he was adopted as the presidential candidate of the Labour Party as far back as 2024.”

But Adebayo, while responding to the remarks during an interview on Arise Television on Sunday, said Datti should not generalise his personal experiences with politicians to include presidential candidates he had never worked with.

According to him, Datti’s assessment may have been shaped by his close dealings with Obi and other politicians, but should not be extended to candidates outside his circle of experience.

“Senator Datti is talking from experience, the intimate relationship with people he has dealt with, so limit it to that. He can’t be talking about people like us, whom he has not dealt with,” Adebayo said.

The SDP candidate added, “Maybe his experience with Governor Peter Obi has convinced him th}at that one cannot make a good president.”

Adebayo had earlier outlined some of the economic policies he intends to implement if elected president in 2027, particularly in the petroleum sector.

He pledged to reduce the prices of petrol, cooking gas and aviation fuel to no more than N200 per litre within 12 months of assuming office.

“SDP will pick cooking gas, petrol and Jet A1; those three, we will put them under a regime where the price does not go past N200,” he said.

The presidential hopeful said his administration would revive Nigeria’s existing refineries and promote the establishment and operation of modular refineries as part of efforts to increase domestic refining capacity.

He argued that the age of Nigeria’s refineries should not be a barrier to their rehabilitation, noting that some refineries in the United States that have operated for more than a century remain functional.

Adebayo further promised to restore the original subsidy arrangement under which 450,000 barrels of crude oil are allocated for domestic consumption.

He said the policy would be aimed at lowering domestic energy costs and cushioning the impact of fuel prices on Nigerians.

In another related development, the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, alleged that Datti Baba-Ahmed knew Peter Obi was “a packaged fraud” when he served as his running mate in the 2023 presidential election.

Sowore made the allegation in a post on his X handle while reacting to Datti’s claim. 

“He knew Peter Obi, whom he deputized, was a packaged fraud. That needs no repeating, he just revealed what he knew up close,” Sowore stated.