By Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja
Presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, during the ok February general election, Mr Adewole Adebayo has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for allowing a level playing ground during the election.
This is as he advised the incoming government of President elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to concern himself with the proper development of the country, as such diligence to work would be the only way to calm the frayed nerves occasioned by the keenly contested presidential race.
The February 25 presidential election won by the All Progressives Congress APC, Bola Ahmed Tinubu followed by the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar and the candidate of Labour Party, LP, and former governor of Anambra State, Mr Peter Obi who came third.
The election case is presently with the election tribunal.
Adebayo, who was a guest of Rights’ Advocate, Segun Awosanya’s organised open space on Twitter early this week, said changing the lives of Nigerians across board is the surest way to reconcile Nigerians.
According to him, “If I was the one elected, as soon as I take that oath of office, that’s the end of politics. I leave politics to my Political Advisers and political party, and I face the work of the people because that is what will ultimately speak for you at the end of the day.
“Some of my fellow candidates wonder why i am still going around talking and engaging the public who still insult you. “I think one must not abandon the space because the answer to a bad speech is a good speech. You must not allow negative narratives to take over the space”, he said.
Continuing, he said, “The Labour Party was quite pronounced during the election, of course, through the popularity of its candidate, Peter Obi. For Adebayo, the workers, who naturally and legitimately too, are bona-fide members believe that the various Labour unions should not be too obvious in politics as such entrance into partisan politics would make politicians be more interested in everything that happens to the Labour especially its leadership.
“The politicians would want to know who becomes the leaders of the unions because no government would want the opposition to be in control if it’s labour force.
“The unions would no longer be consistent as such action would naturally weaken the union totally”, he stressed.
Adebayo equally declared that the federal government should be commended for its rescue efforts in evacuating Nigerians out of the crises ridden country of Sudan .
He noted that Nigeria and other countries, including the UK and United States of America, are all having challenges in evacuating their nationals.
His words, “Every country, not some, every country, whose nationals are in Sudan, had problems evacuating their nationals.
“There are some British presently in Egypt, who are even begging to be evacuated.
“Nigerians living in Sudan can not be less than 3 million. Some don’t want to leave because the war isn’t affecting them where they are.
“Some are so entrenched because they have their businesses there. The few schooling there are the most affected by the war. Do you know that our ethnic groups here came from sudan?.
“The richest man in Sudan is a nigerian. Some of the best teachers in Sudan are Nigerians. There are people of Nigerian origin who are in the Sudanese parliament. Sudan is closely related to us. Do you know that the British used to call Nigeria the lower sudan?, he said.
Adebayo noted that if it were to be other Presidents, some of the candidates during the elections would have been harassed and intimidated, stressing however that Buhari didn’t do all that.
The government of the day, he said, has to be patriotic to make sure it doesn’t take advantage of power.
According to him, “This is where one should commend the government of Buhari. Since I was an adult, the President that has shown the least bias in politics. if Buhari was not the way he is, if it was Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo or Goodluck Jonathan and others before them, even to the late Shagari era, once they are in government, their party must win at all cost. I am not a member of his party, but at any time, has the police, DSS (Department of State Security Services) harassed me?. Nobody can say it’s because of Buhari that he or she lost the election because even in his own state, Katsina, he lost the elections.
“We should be grateful at least that Buhari ensured that happened. Through him, it has shown that the President can have a candidate in the race and not break the law for the candidate, “he explained.
