Tinubu’s economic policies exclude Nigerians — SDP presidential candidate
August 13, 2026 10:28 pm
Prince Adewale Adebayo
By Deborah Musa
The presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party, Prince Adewale Adebayo, has said that President Bola Tinubu is running Nigeria’s economy without the people, alleging that the administration’s policies have deepened poverty, insecurity and economic hardship.
Adebayo stated this on Thursday in Abuja when he led the SDP leadership on a consultation visit to the Middle Belt Forum ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
The SDP candidate, who described the Middle Belt as the “stomach of Nigeria”, argued that the region’s economic and strategic importance made its stability critical to the country’s development.
He said Nigeria could not achieve meaningful development under a government that failed to understand the country’s diversity, accusing the Tinubu administration of poor leadership and inadequate representation.
“Because you cannot have an unhealthy body with a healthy stomach. Because the Middle Belt is the stomach of Nigeria,” Adebayo said.
The SDP candidate said the country’s leadership must understand the Middle Belt because of its historical, cultural, agricultural and natural-resource significance.
“Nobody becomes the leader of Nigeria if he doesn’t understand the Middle Belt very well because if you don’t understand the Middle Belt, you cannot understand Nigeria,” he said.
Adebayo, who said the Middle Belt was home to about 280 ethnic groups, argued that the region provided a model for managing Nigeria’s diversity.
He criticised what he described as the concentration of ministerial appointments in some parts of the country under the Tinubu administration, insisting that an inclusive government must reflect Nigeria’s diversity.
“The greatest shame in the present administration, why it is difficult for the people of the Southwest to accept the government, is not just because it is a totally inept government, which nobody can be proud of, or that it is corrupt and corrupting.
“It is that it is an insult to the generosity of the spirit of Yoruba people, who do not have the greed to go to one state and choose three ministers from one state,” he said.
On insecurity, Adebayo promised to restructure the armed forces and adopt a community-based approach to security if elected President in 2027.
“We want to end insecurity in Nigeria starting with the middle belt,” he said.
He said that criminality had been sustained by links between criminals and government officials, promising to sever such relationships.
“What is sustaining criminality and violence in Nigeria is that it is either government-sponsored or government-enabled and once they don’t have partners in my presidency, that’s the end of it,” he said.
Turning to the economy, Adebayo accused the President of economic illiteracy and alleged that the administration was pursuing policies that excluded Nigerians from economic production.
“What we will do is to cure the economic illiteracy of President Tinubu.
“Tinubu’s problem, apart from his total ignorance and total lack of honesty, is that he wants to run an economy without the people. That is why he is cooking books,” Adebayo said.
Adebayo said what Nigeria needs is intense focus on full employment, transparency in government revenue, accountability and separation of public office from government contracts.
He said, “What we need to do differently is first, to stop the criminality that they are doing in government. Two, to collect government revenue publicly and account for it.
“Three, to engage all Nigerians into full employment so that they can be productive. Four, to remove all the opaqueness and the hiding that they are hiding and make everything clear for you. And lastly, to separate the people in government from contracting.”
He noted that decentralisation of Nigeria’s economic production is required to strengthen productivity at the state and local government levels.
“Once you do that, you will see that agriculture will rise. You will see that infrastructure will be built because we are now no longer stealing the money. You will see that there will be peace and stability,” he said.
Adebayo further identified justice, security, economic development and Nigeria’s international influence as key areas requiring urgent reform.
He said Nigeria could not achieve sustainable development while citizens remained unsafe in their communities and unable to access their farms.
“Any government that cannot fix security in a short order has no business calling itself a government,” he said.
The SDP candidate stressed that the “criminalisation of mining”, needs to be immediately stopped arguing that Nigeria could generate substantially more revenue from its mineral resources.
“If I can, and I will, stop the criminalisation of mining. Bandits are the ones acting as the police for the miners. That’s what is killing our people,” he said.
On foreign policy, Adebayo said an SDP government would pursue partnerships based on Nigeria’s security, economic and technological interests.
“Our foreign policy is simple. It is an external projection of the internal priorities of Nigeria,” he said.
He also proposed a major expansion of Nigeria’s electricity generation capacity, saying the country should be targeting between 50,000 and 75,000 megawatts.
“At least Nigeria now, any presidential candidate who is not giving you a plan for 50,000 megawatts is behind time,” he said.
Adebayo said the proposed expansion would rely on a combination of solar, gas and hydroelectric power, while insisting that procurement in the energy sector must be transparent.
Deborah Musa is a journalist at Punch Newspapers with five years of experience in journalism, including three years covering the judiciary. She focuses on producing accurate, well-researched reports that provide clarity on legal and justice-related issues. Deborah’s work reflects hands-on newsroom experience and editorial diligence.
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