ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- The presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Prince Adewole Adebayo, has said he will not blame President Bola Tinubu for the country’s problems if he succeeds him in 2027.
Rather, Adebayo said he would accept responsibility for both the achievements and liabilities of the present administration, insisting that governance requires continuity and not a constant search for people to blame.
The SDP candidate stated this during an interview on TVC’s Politics On Sunday.
Adebayo said he was not oblivious to what he described as the shortcomings of the Tinubu administration, adding that he was already familiar with the challenges he could inherit if elected president.
“When I become president by God’s grace, I’m not going to blame President Tinubu. Once I take the oath of office, I am now inheriting everything that the president before me has done,” he said.
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According to him, a change of government does not mean the incoming administration would disown the structures, institutions and infrastructure inherited from its predecessor.
He explained that anyone assuming the presidency would have to take ownership of both the assets and liabilities left behind by the outgoing administration.
“Because if I’m going to go and enter a state house that wasn’t built by me, drive on a road that wasn’t built by me, and go and do convocation in universities that were not established by me, it means that the incumbent before me left some assets and if he left some liabilities also, I have to know,” Adebayo said.
The SDP presidential candidate said he was fully aware of the economic difficulties confronting Nigeria but remained determined to seek the presidency despite the challenges.
“Right now, I know the perilous state of the economy. I know the troubled state of affairs in Nigeria,” he said.
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Adebayo went further to claim that he had identified most of what he considered to be wrong with the Tinubu administration.
“I know 99 per cent of what President Tinubu is doing wrong. I know them, and I’m still hellbent on running for the office,” he said.
He, however, said identifying the perceived failures of an administration should not translate into spending valuable time blaming its predecessor after taking over power.
Adebayo said his administration, if elected, would instead focus on correcting existing problems while building on whatever had worked under previous governments.
“So I don’t get in there and start blaming him after that. I know everything that is wrong with the government, and there’s a system of handover. So there’s a continuity in government,” he said.