The National Chairman of the Social Democratic Party ( SDP), Shehu Gabam has stated that Nigerians don’t need Atiku Abubakar and Bola Tinubu in 2023.
Gabam said the political experience of the duo doesn’t matter because things have changed.
Abubakar is the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), while Tinubu is the presidential flagbearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 2023 presidential election.
In an interview with Vanguard on Tuesday, Gabam said that experience should not be considered the singular most important factor in who should be the next president.
The SDP chairman asserted that agility, capacity, and ability to perform the task of nation-building should be the factors to be considered for next year’s elections.
Gabam, however, advised Nigerians to reject both the APC and the PDP candidates and queue behind the SDP’s Presidential candidate, Adewole Adebayo.
He said: “President Muhammadu Buhari has more experience than all these ones you have mentioned. He was a former military Head of State, former military governor, erstwhile Minister of Petroleum Resources and more. How has he performed as an elected president?
“So for me, I don’t consider experience as the singular most important factor in who should be our president. What Nigeria is going through today has nothing to do with experience, but everything to do with agility, capacity and ability to perform the task of nation-building.
“We need someone that can take an apt decision, spend his time not sleeping but monitoring the situation of the country, giving decisive orders and creating deterrence for those who do not obey law and order.
“Yes, Tinubu and Atiku have their experiences. Tinubu has been part of the system for a very long time, and Atiku has been part of the system for a very long time but again, none of them has contested the presidency and won before. Atiku has contested Presidency a couple of times and has lost.
Tinubu is contesting for the first time.
“I know as a matter of fact that Tinubu did well as the governor of Lagos State. I was in Lagos when he was the governor but the dynamics have changed; the situation in Nigeria has changed. Nigeria requires someone who can melt into the whole system and deal with the system decisively.”
