2027: Don’t give power to APC by boycotting polls – Adebayo urges Nigerians

Presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 2023 general elections, Adewole Adebayo, has urged Nigerians to exercise their franchise and not boycott the 2027 general elections in the country.

Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said it recorded 3,441,121 completed registrations in the ongoing second phase of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise.

However, a lobbying firm in the United States (U.S.), Von Batten-Montague-York, L.C., stated that it will brief congressional leadership and senior members of the U.S. National Security Council on the alleged weaknesses in INEC’s safeguarding of credible elections.

While featuring on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese-Ijebu, in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Adebayo blamed the President Bola Tinubu-led administration for “failing to fulfil its electioneering promises” on adequate security, jobs, economy and anti-corruption, among others.

Cautioning citizens not to hand power to the ruling APC by boycotting the next general election, the SDP chieftain said it was their constitutional right to vote and be voted for, despite crises within the opposition parties.

With the infiltration and destabilisation of major opposition parties by unseen hands, the presidential candidate charged Nigerians not to be discouraged but to ensure they vote, saying that failure to exercise their franchise would only hand power to politicians with selfish motives and questionable records.

He said: “When citizens abstain from voting, it is not the politicians who lose; it is the people themselves. SDP calls on every Nigerian to recognise the power they hold in their hands during elections, to reject calls for boycotts, and to ensure that their voices are part of the national conversation.”