Adebayo’s federalism gamble: States to become development engines, not Abuja’s dependants

Presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, for the 2027 election, Prince Adewole Adebayo has proposed a new model of federal cooperation under which the Federal, State and Local Governments would work as development partners while retaining their constitutionally assigned responsibilities.

The proposal is contained in his 2027–2031 blueprint, Farewell to Poverty and Insecurity, which identifies Cooperative Federalism and Subsidiarity as key principles of governance.

Under the model, the three tiers of government would collaborate through joint planning, counterpart funding, shared standards, interoperable systems and performance-based partnerships where their responsibilities overlap.

But Adebayo’s proposal does not envisage a Federal Government that controls everything from Abuja.

Instead, the blueprint embraces the principle of subsidiarity, under which public responsibilities should be performed by the lowest level of government capable of delivering them effectively.

The Federal Government would consequently concentrate on national standards, strategic coordination and responsibilities requiring national scale.

The blueprint also proposes that Nigeria’s different states and regions should develop sectors in which they possess comparative advantages, with their economic strengths connected through value chains, inter-state commerce and shared infrastructure.

The ultimate objective, according to Farewell to Poverty and Insecurity, is not a collection of isolated regional economies but “one productive Nigerian economy.”

This philosophy is also reflected in Adebayo’s broader economic programme, which seeks to move Nigeria from dependency towards self-reliant prosperity by 2031.

Rather than imposing identical development programmes on every state, the blueprint envisages a system in which states can build around their strengths while benefiting from national infrastructure, markets and coordinated investment.

The proposal could therefore redefine the relationship between Abuja and the federating units by moving the emphasis from administrative control to development partnership.

For Adebayo, federalism should not merely determine who controls what; it should determine how every level of government can contribute most effectively to national prosperity.

In that vision, Nigeria’s federal structure becomes an economic asset—bringing together the comparative advantages of its regions into a coordinated national production system.