Social Democratic Party (SDP) Presidential Candidate, Adewole Adebayo, has accused President Bola Tinubu of governing with contempt for Nigeria’s Constitution, while alleging that the All Progressives Congress (APC) exploited religion to mislead Nigerians into supporting its Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket.
Speaking during an interview with ARISE NEWS on Tuesday, Adebayo argued that the current administration had committed what he described as constitutional and democratic abominations, insisting that the Muslim-Muslim ticket neither represented Islamic values nor delivered justice, which he said was the core expectation of leadership in Islam.
“There is a constitutional abomination, which is that the president looks at the constitution with contempt. Whatever the constitution says he should do, he will not do. Whatever they say he should not do, he does the whole concept from the beginning was just to defraud the populace by using religious sentiment.”
He dismissed the argument that the Muslim-Muslim ticket remained an electoral advantage ahead of the 2027 general election, saying Nigerians were more concerned about justice. “There is nothing like a Muslim Muslim ticket. Even when the contraption was brought up four years ago if you are hoping for a Muslim Muslim ticket in President Tinubu and Vice President Shettima, you will be lucky to even have a single Muslim out of the two.”
“Because in Islam, what is expected in Islamic jurisprudence, what is expected of a leader is not the religion of that leader, it’s justice. The reason why Muslims get involved in politics is to have a just society.”
Adebayo further argued that Islamic teachings discourage the appointment of unqualified individuals to public office or the distribution of power based on favouritism or personal reward.
“In Islam, it is expected that if you are a good Muslim, you will not give public office or responsibility to anyone who is not fit for that. So you look among yourselves for the most suitable person, most competent person. Second, you don’t give power based on favouritism or bias. And three, you don’t give power based on expectation of reward.”
He maintained that the APC’s reliance on religion had failed to translate into justice for Nigerians, citing former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai as an example. “So the whole concept from the beginning was just to defraud the populace by using religious sentiment One of the proponents and advocates of Muslim Muslim Ticket, who was celebrating it, Nasir El-Rufai, he and his family are now crying for justice. That is the biggest irony you can have.”
Adebayo also listed what he described as five abominations committed by the Tinubu administration, beginning with alleged disregard for constitutional provisions governing public finance and appropriation. “Whatever the constitution says he should do, he will not do. Whatever they say he should not do, he does they don’t follow appropriation. That’s a serious abomination.”
He also alleged that the administration was undermining democracy by weakening opposition parties and shrinking Nigeria’s democratic space. “The second abomination is the anti-democratic abomination, where you undermine the opposition, you squeeze the public space, you limit people’s options, you pass an encouraged terrible electoral act, which is just for your advantage.”
On governance, he accused the administration of injustice, incompetence and lack of accountability, alleging that appointments, spending and policy implementation had deepened divisions across the country. “The third abomination is in the sector of justice. As head of state, you are not uniting the country, you are not just in your appointments, you are not just in your recruitment, you are not just in your expenditure.”
“The fourth abomination is the abomination of incompetence, where the government is at sea. They don’t even know how many agencies they have. They are not able to control the functioning of government.”
Questioning claims that President Tinubu had inherited former President Muhammadu Buhari’s electoral support base, Adebayo said. “How can you say you have inherited 12 million Buhari voters when even in the last election with Buhari in government, you could not scrape together more than 8 million votes, most of which were bought and stolen? So where do you get that?”
He also accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of repeatedly frustrating his party through administrative actions and alleged political interference. “We are the most sabotaged of our political parties. We are on our third missionary journey to the Supreme Court now, we have had to take INEC to court on almost every front.”
Adebayo said his party remained committed to pursuing legal remedies while maintaining internal discipline to resist external interference.
“Our own slogan is, farewell to poverty and insecurity.”
He added that under his administration, kidnappers would face swift justice through a strengthened security architecture. “When you go anywhere in Nigeria to kidnap anybody, you won’t last 48 hours, you’ll be caught.”
Erizia Rubyjeana
