The former presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the 2023 general election, Adewole Adebayo, has opened up on the reason his party has rejected coalition talks.
Addressing reporters on Sunday during the 2025 Christmas Marathon and Health Walk in Akure, Adebayo stated that those pushing for a coalition lack credibility, clear ideology, and the moral standing required to rescue Nigeria.
Adebayo said opposition to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu alone is not enough justification for forming a coalition.
He argued that the SDP is not against a coalition, but insisted that the party would not align with politicians whose records and motivations contradict the party’s values.
Adebayo said, “We are talking with the coalition, and we are trying to find a common purpose. This common purpose has to have meaning in the lives of ordinary Nigerians.
“The fact that I don’t like President Bola Ahmed Tinubu does not mean I should accept the same things I dislike him for from others. That’s why I interviewed each of them who came. I don’t even bother to interview some of them, and you all know them.
“They are people who came to our party, and we didn’t allow them to come in, and they have now re-grouped to another party to do their own thing. We told many of them to go away because you can’t say you wanted to rescue Nigeria and you’re a fraud.”
The SDP stalwart argued that many opposition figures attempting to form a coalition are merely trying to capitalise on public anger over the present government’s “poor performance” rather than offering genuine alternatives.
“I think it’s better to make sure that the person who wants to collaborate with you doesn’t have similar tendencies like the person you want to take power from. It will be like: what’s the point for a chicken to vote for any of these three people?
“Someone said the best way to handle a chicken during Christmas is to roast it. Another said fry it; another said parboil it. How would the chicken vote for any of them?
“Since they could disagree among themselves, none of them could then force the chicken. What we are trying to do is to ensure that people don’t capitalise on the bad performance of the government, or to come and insinuate to us or ride on the wave of that anger.
“So, these people who are coming are going to be worse. When I saw their mascot (the late President Muhammadu Buhari), I was convinced that we would be dead. We should make sure that someone who is not worse is not smuggled in,” Adebayo said.