‘We Need To Adopt Tinubu’s Style’ – Presidential Candidate Says Ahead Of 2027

Candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the just concluded 2023 presidential election, Prince Adewole Adebayo, has revealed his admiration for President-elect, Bola Tinubu‘s campaign strategy.

Naija News reports that Tinubu won the 2023 presidential election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and would be sworn in on May 29 barring last-minute decisions.

Speaking on Tuesday evening during an online discussion programme anchored by Rudolf Okonkwo, titled ‘90 Minutes Africa,’ Adewole noted that during the 2023 electioneering period, the candidate he met everywhere was Tinubu.

“There is always one governor, one senator, one Reps member, and one traditional ruler working for him everywhere you go. I think we need to do that too with better and more positive people. It’s very difficult, though, because we don’t agree on the same thing,” he said.

We Need Structures To Wrestle Power From Old Politicians, Parties

Adebayo, however, expressed worries that old politicians and their parties will continue to dominate the Nigerian political landscape for a long time except for a coalition or an alliance of young and new political structures that would wrestle power from them.

The politician argued that the alliance with the support of the masses will ensure that the old parties and their candidates are rested for good.

Adebayo observed that many new political parties and their candidates were running their races individually during the campaign, which according to him, is what reduced the collective strength of the young and new entrants.

He said: “When you are in the race, you are the most intelligent candidate. That is what you keep hearing. And everyone hears that in their own silos. But over time, the person who wins most likely has the majority of the people working for them. Whether for good or for bad, that’s another thing entirely.”

Adebayo also said that attempts at working with other parties during the 2023 election couldn’t work because he discovered that some of the people representing the parties were mere placeholders who had no power of their own to decide their fate.

“Many of the people in politics are merely agents, not principals. The reason why Buhari and Tinubu could form a coalition is because Buhari isn’t anybody’s boy. He was the leader of his own team. Tinubu isn’t a follower of anybody. He is not anybody’s boy. But some of these people may be forming alliances with them while in actual fact they are working for other people. And once they call them into the room and tell them what to do, that’s exactly what they will do. The people you want to follow are also following and shadowing some people, too,” he opined.