Presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Prince Adewole Adebayo, has blamed Nigeria’s economic difficulties on poor governance, weak institutions and alleged diversion of public resources, saying the country’s problems are not caused by a lack of natural and human resources.
Adebayo, who spoke while presenting his policy agenda to journalists and members of the Middle-Belt Forum, also faulted the reliance on headline economic growth figures to assess the country’s performance, saying the real measure should be whether productivity and household welfare are improving.
He said Nigeria needed greater transparency in revenue collection, stronger financial accountability and a clearer separation between public officials and government contracting.
According to him, economic production should also be decentralised by giving states and local governments greater responsibilities in agriculture and mining, while adopting what he described as a “promotional tax regime” to protect living wages and encourage private-sector investment.
Adebayo said the mining sector offered significant opportunities for economic diversification, particularly in the Middle Belt, arguing that the value generated from the region’s mineral resources could exceed what the country currently derives from petroleum.
He also called for an end to what he described as the “criminalisation of mining”, saying the sector should become a major contributor to national economic growth.
On electricity, the SDP candidate proposed raising Nigeria’s power generation capacity to between 50,000MW and 75,000MW by 2050 through a combination of gas, solar and rehabilitated hydro infrastructure.
He also linked the country’s economic difficulties to insecurity, arguing that criminality could not be effectively addressed without tackling alleged institutional complicity.
“What is sustaining criminality and violence in Nigeria is that it is either government sponsored or government enabled,” he said, adding that his administration would “stop tolerating criminality in government.”
On security, Adebayo proposed restructuring the armed forces to make them more responsive to local communities.
The SDP chairman, Prof. Sadiq Umar Abubakar Gombe, described the Middle-Belt Forum as a strategic partner in efforts to promote a free, fair and credible electoral process ahead of the 2027 general election.
