2027: Too Tired to Campaign, Too Weak to Govern, Adebayo Tells Tinubu
The political temperature ahead of Nigeria’s 2027 presidential election rose sharply on Wednesday when the Social Democratic Party presidential candidate, Prince Adewole Adebayo, launched a blistering attack on President Bola Tinubu over his plan to limit his physical participation in the campaign.
Adebayo did not mince words. He told the President that a leader who is too tired to campaign is too weak to govern, and he urged Tinubu to step aside and let Nigerians breathe.
The SDP candidate made his position known in a statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday, according to The Vanguard. He was responding to remarks made by Tinubu at the inauguration of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council.
At that event, Tinubu had urged party members to take the APC’s message to Nigerians across states and local government areas while he continued to focus on governance responsibilities. The President made it clear he would not be everywhere on the campaign trail, insisting that the business of running the country could not wait for elections.
Adebayo seized on that admission and turned it into a political weapon. He described Tinubu as a president in absentia, insisting that Nigeria needed active leadership amid its numerous challenges. Nigeria is too complex, too dynamic, and currently too distressed to be governed by remote control, he said.
The opposition candidate also accused the President of repeatedly being absent during critical national moments. He cited what he described as prolonged medical trips, absences during national emergencies, and the use of representatives to communicate government policies.
Adebayo went further, suggesting that Tinubu’s decision to avoid the campaign trail was driven by fear rather than duty. He claimed the President knows the pain his policies have inflicted on ordinary families, from the fallout of fuel subsidy removal to soaring inflation and a volatile exchange rate, and therefore dreads facing voters directly. According to Adebayo, any appearance by Tinubu on the campaign ground would be met with the collective anger of a betrayed people.
The APC fired back quickly. The Lagos State chapter of the party dismissed Adebayo’s remarks as the desperate noise of an opposition politician seeking attention. Its spokesman said the President does not need to attend every rally to prove his leadership, pointing to Tinubu’s political experience, track record, and national influence as his real strength.
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At its core, the clash is the first real skirmish of the 2027 race, a fight over whether a sitting president’s stamina and visibility on the campaign trail should matter to voters. Adebayo has drawn his line. Tinubu, for now, is choosing to govern from above the fray.
