The presidential campaign council of Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate Prince Adewole Adebayo has urged Nigerians dissatisfied with the administration of President Bola Tinubu to channel their grievances into votes in the 2027 presidential election.
The campaign’s Chief Communications Adviser, Comrade Mark Adebayo, made the call on Monday in Abuja while addressing journalists on rising petrol prices and the state of the Nigerian economy.
Mark said while protests remain a constitutional means of expressing dissatisfaction, Nigerians should go beyond street demonstrations and use the ballot box to demand political change.
He argued that economic hardship, rising petrol prices, unemployment, insecurity and other challenges confronting citizens should become issues of political action ahead of the 2027 election.
“The anger on the streets is justified, but anger alone will not fix our broken economy, rescue our currency, or secure our communities,” Mark said.
He urged Nigerians to “translate” their grievances into what he described as “tangible, decisive action” at the ballot box.
Mark also criticised the Tinubu administration over petrol prices, claiming that the product was selling for between N1,500 and N2,000 per litre in some parts of the country.
He further questioned President Tinubu’s decision to stay away from the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York, where Vice President Kashim Shettima is representing him and leading Nigeria’s delegation. The Presidency has said Tinubu mandated Shettima to represent him at the September 22–28 gathering.
Mark alleged that the President’s absence had generated questions about his relationship with the United States, but did not provide evidence linking the decision to any legal matter.
The campaign adviser subsequently called on Nigerians seeking an alternative to the Tinubu administration to support Adewole Adebayo, saying the SDP candidate had proposed measures aimed at tackling unemployment, food insecurity, economic instability and insecurity.
One of Adebayo’s major campaign promises is to reduce the prices of petrol, cooking gas and Jet A1 to N200 per litre within 12 months if elected president in 2027. He made the pledge during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria earlier in September.
According to Mark, the proposed reduction in petrol prices would involve supplying crude oil to local refiners in naira and adopting a 50-50 arrangement under which private refiners would refine part of the crude for government use while retaining the remainder as payment.
He challenged media organisations that had questioned the feasibility of Adebayo’s N200-per-litre promise to invite the SDP candidate to explain the proposal and defend its economic viability.
Mark also announced plans for nationwide mobilisation by the campaign under the slogan, “Farewell to Poverty and Insecurity.”
He called on youth groups, civil society organisations, labour unions and other Nigerians dissatisfied with the current administration to participate in the political process ahead of the 2027 election.
“Let us turn our protests into political power. Let us organise, mobilise, and ensure that the energy on our streets becomes the vote that transforms Nigeria next year,” he said.
