The presidential candidate for the Social Democratic Party, (SDP), The presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Adewole Adebayo, has pledged that the party will eliminate poverty and tackle insecurity within four years if elected in the 2027 presidential election.
Adebayo, who unveiled his presidential blueprint, Farewell to Poverty and Insecurity, in Abuja on Tuesday, while speaking in an interview on ARISE NEWS, insisted that the policy document provides a comprehensive and constitutionally grounded alternative for addressing Nigeria’s economic and security challenges, pledging that the SDP would eliminate poverty and tackle insecurity within four years if elected in 2027.
“First, the most important thing about the blueprint is that it complies with the Constitution. Section 224 of the Constitution says that the manifesto or policy of every political party must comply. Only the SDP complies. So we have followed the Constitution.
“At the end of the four-year term, we will have eliminated poverty. I’m not saying every Nigerian is going to be a billionaire, but we will eliminate poverty and deal with insecurity.”
The SDP’s approach, he said, is anchored on intellect and a clear national philosophy rather than the pursuit of power for its own sake, with 16 additional policy books expected to provide detailed solutions to Nigeria’s challenges.
He argued that the blueprint was designed to transcend party lines, maintaining that any government willing to understand and implement its proposals could achieve meaningful progress in the country.
“Right now, the politicians are blind, and they are blindly running after power. So what we decided to do is that we will achieve one victory even before the election: we will set Nigerians thinking. We will solve the problems. This is just the beginning. No matter how the election goes, we are coming with 16 more policy books.
“So you follow these policies. What we want to do in the SDP is use what we have that they don’t have: we have the intellect and we have the philosophy. So we will first solve the problems. That’s why I said at the launch that even if the APC, as confused as they are, could summon the intelligence to read and understand this and not be thinking about how solutions go to the bullion van, they can be able to make some success—maybe relative success, not as much as us. A good national philosophy for development must be capable of being implemented even by other people than the writers. This is the foundation we are laying.”
Emphasising the need to address the root causes of poverty rather than provide temporary relief, Adebayo said the SDP would prioritise education, agricultural investment, healthcare, housing and employment as key drivers of sustainable livelihoods. He said the party would also deploy massive infrastructure and social-service investments to create jobs and reduce unemployment to between two and three per cent.
“The opportunity we give is this: when you are in Nigeria and you are young, we put you in school. The fastest train out of the station of poverty is education. We have what it takes to put you in school. That’s exactly the first thing we’re going to do: put everybody who is of school age in school. We will eliminate that in a matter of three months.
“Second is that we ensure that we provide agricultural supplies. So we can do that; it’s not rocket science. If two or three states—Kaduna, Nasarawa, and Benue—can feed the rest of Nigeria, food is available.
“The next thing you do is healthcare. You have to be able to create healthcare facilities around. These are the things that make you poor. It is not the money in your account. I am not saying that nobody will be broke again; I am only saying nobody will be poor. You are allowed to be broke without being poor, in the sense that you can afford food, you are not using more than 9% or 8% of your income for housing, and you are not paying anything for medical care because that’s your right.
“Now, we spend government money in such a way that you can generate employment. The essence of monetary and fiscal policy—the only success parameter—is that you must create full employment. When you reduce unemployment to 2% or 3%, how do you do that? You do that with massive infrastructure, investment in agriculture, and social services. All these people you are going to put in school need teachers, nurses, and other people.”
On job creation, Adebayo said the SDP would pursue a mixed-economy model that combines public and private-sector employment, arguing that government has a role to play in making strategic investments in agriculture, energy, aviation and manufacturing. He added that recovering funds lost through alleged corruption and crude oil theft would give the government greater capacity to finance development and create employment without placing additional pressure on citizens.
“Our Constitution says we will run a mixed economy, and I’m not shy about government jobs. After all, why should I deny a Nigerian a government job? The job I’m asking for—the presidency—is a government job. The issue is this: you make the investment in the sector.
“If you look at when I was raising the alarm that they were stealing the crude, I made a case and I spoke at the NBA conference in 2022 that they are stealing the crude. The amount we set aside to reduce poverty in Nigeria by domestic refining was about 450,000 barrels—half of that. So if I stop associating with thieves, stop doing business with them, and stop stealing the crude—which we can easily monitor with Gulf of Guinea—you can’t steal the crude. That alone, without any additional expenditure, I will be able to guarantee you adequate supply.”
Turning to electricity, the SDP presidential candidate proposed decentralised solar power generation, promising to install between 11 and 15 kilowatts of solar capacity on every roof within 11 months if elected. He added that investments in education, healthcare and other public services would simultaneously create jobs for teachers, nurses and other professionals.
“Just making solar panels, for example, to reduce energy failure—I promise that between 11 to 15 kilowatts of solar power will be put on every roof within 11 months. So what are we doing? We are ensuring that we put 11 to 15 kW on every roof so that you can do your basic work, charge, watch politicians sweating about it, watch your clothes, iron, read your books, do everything, and you generate employment. You generate up to 32,000 megawatts from these clusters that you do.
“I’m giving you granular detail of what we are going to do. At the same time, the same money… people are assuming that the money I spend in dealing with electricity cannot create jobs. I don’t think in that weak way. I’m thinking that the money I spend on education is also going to employment, because teachers are going to earn salaries.”
On the question of political support, Adebayo expressed confidence that the SDP could secure enough seats in the National Assembly to advance its reform agenda, citing the party’s experience in winning legislative elections and its growing strength across several states.
“We have experience in winning National Assembly elections. Even in our darkest days, we always produced some senators and some House members. Because every person who is running for the 109 Senate seats, running for the 360 House seats, running for the Assembly seats, is well trained in this. Every member of the SDP understands this, and once Nigerians understand this, they will vote us in.”
Adebayo added that, once elected president, his symbol of allegiance would be Nigeria’s green-white-green flag rather than the SDP’s party colours, underscoring his commitment to national unity.
“My flag when I become president is green-white-green; it is not the orange of the SDP anymore.”
Favour Odima
Follow us on:
