The Presidential Candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Prince Adewole Adebayo on Monday said the party is committed to being on the ballot in the scheduled 25th February and 11th March respectively despite the new Naira policy.
Prince Adebayo made this known via his verified Twitter handle in response to the hardship being melted out on Nigerians with regards to the Naira swap currently ongoing and the alleged threat by some political parties to boycott the elections especially the general election.
He condemned the hardship but made it obvious that the SDP will be on the ballot at all levels in the elections and not part of the political parties that intend to boycott the election over naira scarcity.
In his tweet, Adebayo said: “Social Democratic Party SDP is committed to contesting Presidential, National, and State elections slated for February and March 2023. SDP, a major political party with credible and popular candidates working hard for victory is NOT part of any ’13 parties’ threatening a boycott.”
SDP’s Adebayo had earlier faulted the currency redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) saying that the CBN shouldn’t be an extension of politics in Nigeria.” Noting it is an exercise NOT a policy.
However, at a joint news conference in Abuja on Monday, Chairmen and candidates under the auspices of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties threatened to pull out of the election if the Apex bank was forced to succumb to pressure and blackmail and suspend the policy.
They claimed to have credible security reports which indicated that there is a plot to instigate violent disturbances to provoke civil unrest aimed at forcing the CBN to postpone the policy.
According to their spokesman Kenneth Udez, “We hereby announce our resolution that at least 14 0f the 18 political parties in Nigeria will not be interested in the 2023 general election and indeed we shall withdraw all our participation from the electoral process if these currency policies are suspended or cancelled or if the deadline is further shifted.
