A business mogul, Prince Adewole Adebayo, has emerged as the Presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) ahead of the 2023 general elections.
In a keenly contested election which lasted several hours, till early Thursday morning in Abuja, Adebayo scored 1,546 votes to beat Khadijah Okunnu-Lamidi who polled 83 votes.
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Also, 44 votes were declared invalid by the Chief Segun Oni-led convention planning committee, which accredited 1,769 delegates across the 36 states and FCT.
The event was coming on the heels of one of the aspirants, Mrs Cesnabmihlo Doroyhy Nuhu-Akenova, who stepped down from the contest to back Adebayo on Tuesday at a press conference.
The Chairman of the SDP Electoral Committee, Dr Umar Ardo, announced Adebayo as the winner of the contest.
In his acceptance speech, Adebayo promised to run an all-inclusive government, and attract the best brains in various spheres of human endeavours to make the country great again.
He said, SDP remains the only democratic alternative left for Nigerians who are tired of the broken promises made by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and the All Progressives Congress (APC).
In his remarks, the National Chairman of the SDP, Alhaji Shehu Musa Gabam, said that Nigeria would get it right this time around with good leadership.
Gabam, lamented that the two parties which had succeeded the military have left Nigerians with so much to desire from their leaders.
He said, “Nigerians are tired of unending insecurity problems, tired of poverty and want, tired of daily threats to Nigeria’s corporate existence, tired of non-inclusive governance, tired of policies that exaggerate our differences, tired of the daily emigration of our best brains and our youth to better climes.
“Nigerians are tired of clueless leadership and tired of no electricity in spite of the colossal investments in power generation.
“They crave a land of equal opportunities, social justice, fairness and liberty to pursue their legitimate daily chores without let or hindrances, a land where the existence and ability to achieve their hearts desires and to contribute their quota to its development is not defined by their identities.”