Nigerians Want Justice, Not Religious Ticket In 2027 – Adebayo

Presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Prince Adewole Adebayo, has said Nigerians have rejected religious politics and are demanding justice and competence ahead of the 2027 elections.

Speaking on Arise Television’s Morning Show, Adebayo stressed that the President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima pairing failed to deliver on the promise.

“There is nothing like the Muslim-Muslim ticket. Even when the contraption was brought up four years ago, I was in Kano and I was asked the same question while meeting with the Ulamas. I told them that if you are hoping for a Muslim-Muslim ticket with President Tinubu and Vice President Shettima, you will be lucky to even have a single Muslim out of the two,” he said.

The SDP leader said Islamic jurisprudence prioritises justice over the personal faith of a leader, and that this is what most Nigerians are asking for.

“And it turned out now that it’s not a Muslim-Muslim ticket. From the point of view of Muslims in Nigeria, it’s a zero-zero ticket because in Islam what is expected of a leader is not the religion of that leader but justice,” Adebayo stated.

According to him, the entire debate around religious tickets was a ploy to manipulate voters.

“So the whole concept from the beginning was just to defraud the populace by using religious sentiment. What the North and all Nigerians are looking for is a righteous leader, no matter the person,” he said.

Adebayo noted that frustration over governance has cut across religious lines, citing former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai as an example.

“So when you say you are looking for a Muslim-Muslim ticket and there is no justice anywhere, even one of the proponents, El-Rufai, who was celebrating it, he and his family are now crying for justice and that is the biggest irony you can have,” he said.

“Nobody was more of a Muslim-Muslim ticket than El-Rufai, who can’t get justice. So I don’t think that Nigerians are interested in that at all. The government and APC are just looking for what to say. There is no support for a Muslim-Muslim ticket anywhere,” he added.