By EricJames Ochigbo
The Presidential Candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Prince Adewole Adebayo, has unveiled plans to end insecurity, create full employment, reform the economy and generate up to 75,000 megawatts of electricity.
Adebayo disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja during an interaction with leaders of the Middle Belt Forum as part of his consultation ahead of the 2027 elections.
He described the engagement as the first step in his consultations ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
He said his administration would tackle insecurity from the community level through sound community-based security structures while ending government sponsorship or enablement of criminality.
Adebayo said his government would promote productivity by ensuring transparent management of public revenue, full employment and separation of public officials from government contracting.
He also promised to take economic production to the states and local governments, saying this would boost agriculture, infrastructure, employment and national productivity.
“The only way a country can be wealthy is if the people of that country are producing a surplus; I will engage all Nigerians in full employment so that they can be productive,” he said.
On the power sector, Adebayo said that Nigeria needed to move beyond its current electricity generation capacity and target between 50,000MW and 75,000MW to meet future demand.
He said that the target would be achieved through a mix of solar, gas and hydroelectric power, alongside rehabilitation of existing hydro stations and reforms in the electricity market.
“Any presidential candidate who is not giving you a plan for 50,000 megawatts is behind time.
“Nigeria has passed the age that 10,000 megawatts or 20,000 megawatts was what we needed.
“A lot of it will be green like solar, a lot of it will be gas because we have a bonus of gas,” he said.
The SDP candidate also pledged to reform Nigeria’s mining sector, saying the country could generate huge revenues from gold, lithium, rare earth minerals and other solid minerals.
Adebayo said his administration would pursue a foreign policy focused on partnerships that enhance Nigeria’s security, education, technology and access to international markets.
He said Nigerians living abroad would also receive stronger consular protection, while migration would be better managed to ensure Nigerians remained productive and respected globally.
The candidate said his government would promote inclusive governance, social justice and equitable representation, arguing that Nigeria’s diversity should be treated as an asset rather than a source of division.
In his response, the Deputy President of the Middle Belt Forum (MBF) Mr Idi Waziri, said the forum had not changed its position on power rotation and justice.
Waziri said that the forum supported a southern presidential candidate in 2023 to ensure power shifted from the North to the South and give Nigerians a sense of belonging.
He said the MBF expected the South to complete its agreed eight-year tenure, after which the Middle Belt would seek the opportunity to produce Nigeria’s president in 2031.
“Our position as a Middle Belt Forum has always been very open. We believe in justice, equity and carrying everybody along,” Waziri said.
He, however, said the forum would consult its various organs, including its political, cultural, youth, women and elders’ structures before taking a position on Adebayo’s 2027 aspiration.
Earlier, the National Chairman of the SDP, Prof. Sadiq Gombe, described Adebayo as the most credible and viable alternative available to Nigerians for the “rescue mission” in 2027.
Gombe said that Adebayo had demonstrated responsibility, courage, commitment and patriotism by remaining with the party after the 2023 general election instead of abandoning it.
He said the SDP would not take the support and reception from the MBF for granted, promising that the party would work with Nigerians to reposition the country.
Gombe said Nigeria required leadership capable of restoring its position in Africa and the world, stressing that the country’s population and strategic importance made effective governance imperative.
He commended the MBF for receiving the SDP delegation, saying the party would continue consultations with stakeholders ahead of the 2027 elections. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Isaac Aregbesola