Lawyer and former presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the 2023 elections, Adewole Adebayo, speaks on Nigeria’s worsening economic conditions, fears of a creeping one-party state, the controversial tax reform law, opposition politics, coalition talks, and his confirmed ambition to contest the 2027 presidential election, in this interview with David Lawani
The Adebayo National Marathon is entering its second year. Please give us a brief background on why you established the marathon.
It has given people purpose and the opportunity to use their strength and stamina. It brings people together — this is me, and this is you. If you want to be successful, you have to endure. You have to plan. You have to focus. You have to work hard. You have to project. You have to prepare for it. You have to compete for it. You have to endure. Just as individuals run their races, companies also run theirs. That is why development itself is a marathon.
What is the turnout like this year?
We have a planning committee. Omoleye Sowore is the chairperson. The secretary is there. Dr Olu Agunloye is a member. There are a few other members, and they are all around, mainly focusing on competitiveness and organisation.
Why, particularly, a marathon, and why the choice of Ondo State?
There is nothing particularly special about a marathon alone. I am very involved in sports — judo, basketball (my home sport), boxing, wrestling, and swimming. So today is marathon day; other days are for different sports. What we want to get out of it is to give it a sportsmanship character. A country of sportspeople is very active. Sports are the beginning of good health. They are the beginning of having a strong military. If you start with young people, it marks the beginning of character development. To wake up in the morning and train for a marathon that will take place a year from now is a way to develop character, follow purpose, and also become part of an international community. If you check the elevation of Ondo City, we are fairly comparable to the average East African area, except for specific mountain ranges like Mount Kenya and a few others. Generally, we are high enough topographically to support endurance training, with just a few kilometres from here to the surrounding mountain ranges.
Is there any further assistance or sponsorship available to talents discovered here?
Many of those who won last year are already running internationally. Marathoners are not like athletes in other sports. In general, many of them are people trying to help their parents. Some are very resourceful young people who want to run. We have a youth segment where we encourage young people to run, and younger athletes are more likely to need assistance. But it is not a sport for beginners. You don’t begin your running career with a marathon. It is for well-experienced and determined runners.
What is your assessment of the year 2025?
For people in government, it was a year of abuse. For the media, it was a year of distraction. For the political class, it was a year of removing credibility from politics. That was 2025 in Nigeria. For the political class, it was a year of denouncing themselves. People were leaving parties, fighting among themselves. For Nigeria, it was a year of international harassment. There was a time when even to criticise Nigeria from outside was a serious matter. Do you remember when the US Peace Corps sent postcards home, and one of them criticised Nigeria? The entire postcard was proscribed because Nigerian youths came out to condemn it. Now, look at the kind of messages coming from Mr Trump and the United States. Look at our inability to assert social justice or national dignity. We are now presenting the 2026 budgets, and they began with constitutional impossibilities, claiming they are repealing the 2025 Appropriation Act. Why repeal an Appropriation Act? The money has already been spent. Is it stolen money? Lost money? Lost opportunity? In all awarded contracts, what happens to those subheads? Are you revoking them? Clearly, we don’t have a functioning government. We don’t have people with power who can be challenged. Tinubu was appointing everyone. We expanded what I consider the most dangerous youth enslavement programme in the country. Under the Constitution, education is supposed to be affordable. Nobody should take a loan to go to school. At the state level, governors are permanently in Abuja, lining up for Tinubu during medical trips or unexplained journeys. It was the year governors shut down radio stations. About six or seven governors defected to the APC, and many more were begging and spending money to join. There was no attempt to address the people’s problems. It was also a year of extreme militarisation. Terrorists killed a general, something you rarely see. Then you had a minister and a naval officer shouting at each other over land that belonged to neither of them. We ended the year with threats of legislative treason and allegations that the fiscal tax law passed by the National Assembly had been tampered with. It was a year Nigeria could not meet even basic standards.
With the 2027 process approaching, are you worried Nigeria is becoming a one-party state?
I am not worried at all. Logic tells you that when elites share the same tendencies, it is only a matter of time before they stop pretending to be different and move into one party. Most political parties since 1998 have had the same elites, uniformly neoliberal, uniformly corrupt, uniformly pointless. You can find someone who served eight years in government, and you cannot summarise their political philosophy. But when they leave office and go to court, you discover it. These elites do not understand the essence of a republic. They don’t take leadership seriously. Their economic philosophy contradicts the Constitution they swear to uphold. What people call a one-party state is actually a one-party elite. A real one-party state cannot happen. A union between hungry people and overfed people cannot last. The real opposition will come from the Nigerian people. Nigerians need a political party they are invested in, a mass movement. The elites are leftovers from military rule. Many started by serving military governments, hiding money. They are returning to their old homes. The Nigerian people now have an opportunity to confront them with a political alternative. They must organise, mobilise, and take collective action. That is democracy.
Are you re-contesting in 2027, or is your party forming a coalition?
I am running, and my party officially knows it. There is no major political party in Nigeria, except the ruling party, which I will never join.
Why?
Because you cannot claim patriotism and still be a member of the APC, you cannot say you support the rule of law and join a government that violates it daily. They cannot account for money, budgets, time, or even the president’s whereabouts. These contradictions cannot coexist.
Some accuse you of seeing nothing good in this government.
If something good exists, I will see it. If it does not, I cannot pretend. Inflation claims mean nothing when food, transport, housing, school fees, airfares, and construction costs keep rising. There is no part of Nigeria where costs have come down.
The tax reform law kicks off in 2026. What is your take?
It is a bad law. An unjust law. An impractical law. A distraction. Taxation must stimulate the economy, distribute resources fairly, generate revenue, and be transparent. This law does none of these. There are allegations that provisions not approved by the National Assembly were inserted. That is criminal. The intent is to fund elections, consolidate economic power, and perpetuate elite control. It will fail.
Have you joined calls for an interim government or opposition coalitions?
No. Governments are elected for fixed terms. Change must come through elections. Coalitions without principles only recycle bad leadership.
Did you personally block the SDP from joining a coalition?
No. We decided collectively that if we cannot help Nigerians, we should not harm them. Nigeria is not short of talent. Nigerians must stop lying to themselves that there is no alternative. There is one.
