Adebayo says 2023 election was charade, INEC was the real opponent

SDP presidential candidate Adewole Adebayo went on Channels TV's Politics Today earlier this week and dropped a bombshell that should make every Nigerian sit up. He said he did not contest against Atiku or Tinubu in 2023, he contested against INEC. In his exact words: "In 2023, I contested against INEC. INEC were the opponents. What happened in 2023 was not good at all. All those numbers are fake. The whole thing was a charade."

Let that sink in. A man who ran for president is telling us the election results were fabricated, that anyone doing analysis based on those numbers is legitimising fraud. He said nobody should use those numbers to govern anybody because you cannot govern out of manipulation. This is not a random Twitter user talking, this is a candidate who was on the ballot. He also prayed for the new INEC chairman Prof. Amupitan and IGP Disu, hoping that in 2027 no candidate will have to run against the electoral body like he did.

Now here is my question for everyone who keeps quoting 2023 figures like they mean something. If Adebayo is right, then what exactly are we building our democracy on? He said even APC members know their party is irrelevant and they are facing one-man rule. So who benefits from all those fake numbers? Certainly not the Nigerian people who stayed in queues for hours. Will 2027 be different or are we about to witness another charade dressed in new robes?