The Social Democratic Party, SDP, presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, Adewole Adebayo, has expressed his willingness to step down his presidential ambition in the 2027 elections for a better politician to emerge as the flag bearer of his party.

Adebayo made this statement on the Sunday edition of Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, a socio-political programme aired on Channels Television.

“Everybody knows that I have an aspiration. I’m working on it but God is the author of tomorrow; we don’t even know who is going to be around in 2027.

“It is my prayer to God that if there is a person who God thinks is better than me to fix the problem of Nigeria, my ambition should not stop that person because we want a country that works. That is the kind of thing we are working on at this time,” Adebayo said.

According to him, the SDP would give Nigerians a candidate that all citizens would be proud of and be ready to give a chance to unseat President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the next presidential election.

He further stated that the SDP won’t divide Nigerians along the delicate lines of religion and ethnicity.

“What used to be an easy discussion – with religion and ethnicity – has become explosive now. So, we will not use the SDP forum to try to bifurcate our people into different zones.

“What we are looking for now is a system where when we make a choice in the SDP, there will be resounding joy outside the SDP and Nigerians will say: ‘Okay, finally, this platform has given the country a chance’,” he added.

Ahead of the 2027 polls, talks about an inter-party alliance reached a climax on Thursday, March 20, 2025, when opposition arrowhead, Atiku Abubakar, alongside former Anambra governor Peter Obi, ex-Kaduna governor Nasir El-Rufai, among others, announced a coalition to oust incumbent Tinubu whose administration has been accused of mismanaging the economy, with all-time high inflation and unprecedented cost of living.

The coalition is banking on the numerical strength of the votes recorded by Atiku and Obi in the last poll.

In 2023, Atiku of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party’s Obi came second and third respectively with combined votes of over 12 million, more than four million above the total votes recorded by Tinubu who was declared the winner by electoral umpire INEC.

With a litany of court cases arising from intra-party squabbles and protracted leadership crises rocking the PDP and the LP, as well as alleged maltreatment of some APC members, politicians in the three parties seem to have made the SDP a darling.

Already, El-Rufai and some of his foot soldiers have joined the SDP. There have been talks about Atiku and Obi reportedly making moves to join the SDP but both politicians have not made such a decision known officially.

The Leader of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Primate Elijah Ayodele, on Monday revealed that the Social Democratic Party, SDP, which opposition leaders are currently embracing, will become stronger than the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, the Labour Party and other political parties but will fail against President Bola Tinubu in 2027.

Primate Ayodele said the party will fail because those who are decamping there will be more concerned about their personal interests rather than wrestling power from the ruling party.

In a statement by his Media Aide, Oluwatosin Osho, the popular prophet warned the party to be cautious of the influx of members and to avoid giving its ticket to candidates who will lead it to failure.

He said: “SDP will be stronger than PDP and Labour. It will be the party to watch, but greed will make the party fail in 2027. Those who will be decamping there will not be focused on winning power but on enriching themselves.

“The party must be careful because of the large number of people joining, and they must be watchful not to give tickets to failures. They must ensure that sentiment and emotions do not influence their selection process.”

Primate Ayodele emphasized that the issue of the 2027 elections cannot be resolved through a mere coalition with another party but requires a strong alliance involving all opposition parties.

He noted that attempting to defeat President Tinubu will not be easy and that following traditional political party structures will lead to failure.

“The issue of the 2027 presidency cannot be addressed through a mere coalition; it won’t be about just one party but rather a strong alliance. Coalitions can break, but alliances cannot. A coalition may not last or deliver the desired outcome, but a solid alliance can.

“Defeating Tinubu is not a joke; he is very strong, and it will not be easy. Following the usual political party approach will not achieve anything. A new alliance must be formed under a new name, and if this is successfully done, victory will be possible,” he said.

Furthermore, he warned that the opposition should not rely on governors for the alliance, as they will betray it.

He advised that the alliance should be built around the people and mentioned some opposition governors who would not be part of it.

“I also want to warn them not to depend on governors, as they will betray any coalition they try to form. They should build this alliance around the people because some governors are already out of it.

“Some governors, like Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom, Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa, and others that I will mention later, will not be part of the alliance,” he added.

This comes amid moves by former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, and former PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, to form a coalition.

The presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, in the 2023 general elections, Adewole Adebayo, says the SDP is not making any plan for merger or collaboration with the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, or any party ahead of the 2027 elections.

Adebayo stated this in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, at a meeting with members of the state executive of the party on Saturday.

He was accompanied during his visit by a former Sports Minister, Solomon Dalung, as well as the party’s chairman in Ogun, Oyo, Lagos, among others.

The former SDP presidential candidate denounced insinuations of his party, as an appendage of the APC, saying that the party remains committed to the welfare and well-being of all Nigerians.

“Maybe APC has appendicitis, they should go to the hospital to kill it. We are a strong party. We are older than any of the parties available. Our mission is clear: we are not in government with them.

“I led the party in the last election. I’m still standing here. I’m not a minister under Tinubu, all the State Chairman, the National Chairman are intact, National Secretary. So, we are standing on our own.

“The reason people look down on us is because we don’t attack people to tackle issues, because our party is a party of intellect. We are the only party that’s a little to the left. Having been a little to the left since we came in 1989 we remain so.

“The problems of Nigeria can only be found with solutions on the left, which is that chapter two of the Constitution, invest money in education, in housing, in healthcare, good infrastructure, let Nigerians live what chief Obafemi Awolowo called a life more abundant,” he said.

According to him, the SDP was open to genuine entrants but not to people of questionable character.

The chairman of the party in the state, Ola Williams, seized the occasion to welcome genuine new members into the party.