Prince Adewole Adebayo, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) presidential candidate in the last election, has criticized President Bola Tinubu for embracing policies from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, which the opposition parties, including Tinubu himself, previously protested against during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Adebayo suggested that using “empty-headed IMF drones” to prevent leaders from gaining power through elections would be more effective than attempting to remove them through riots.
In a post on his X account, Adebayo pointed out the irony of the current protests, saying it was the same political tactics of ex-President Muhammadu Buhari and Tinubu, who protested against Jonathan for the same policies they are now pursuing, albeit with less humanity.
“I opposed the Buhari-Tinubu farce at that time, and I oppose the same thing now. As Buhari and Tinubu, and others were opposing Jonathan in 2014, they too were lobbying the same IMF, World Bank, for political support based on the same policies Jonathan was already implementing against his own wish, just to please the same IMF,” Adebayo stated.
He advocated for the full implementation of Chapter 2 of the Constitution, which outlines the fundamental objectives and directive principles of state policy.
While expressing his lack of support for the protest, Adebayo noted that “a four-year tenure is sacred if we must avoid chaos.”
He argued that the protests lacked an ideological basis, as the sponsors followed the same neoliberal policies, and urged voters to choose wisely in future elections.
“A protest is already a protest if you voice out disagreement in any lawful forum or media. Once you organize a mass protest to challenge pure policy measures and their natural fallouts, you are doing politics, and the other side can originate counter-protests.
“In the case of Nigeria and Kenya, you won’t achieve anything substantial because the major political forces on both sides of the protests agree on neoliberal economic policies whose inevitable consequences are what they are protesting against,” Adebayo stated.