The 2023 presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Mr Adewole Adebayo, has warned that Nigeria’s democracy is under serious threat from what he described as “coup plotters” operating through legislative decisions.
He particularly lambasted Senators led by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, who are opposed to the mandatory electronic transmission of election results.
Adebayo, who stated these when he featured on Channels Television programme ‘Politics Today’ on Monday, February 9, 2026, dismissed claims that public reactions to the Senate’s decision amounted to agitation, stressed that this democracy is more important to him than becoming President, adding that Nigerians were only beginning to mobilise in defence of democratic governance.
While reacting to the Senate’s rejection of a proposed amendment to Clause 60(3) of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, which sought to make electronic transmission of election results compulsory, Adebayo noted that anti-democratic forces are determined to shutdown the nation’s democracy.
The former presidential candidate of the SDP, stressed that protecting democracy must rank above personal ambition, wealth, or political office, insisting that it as central to the survival, dignity, and global relevance of Nigerians.
While drawing analogy between military-style coup attempts and actions he believes could weaken democratic institutions, Adebayo questioned what he referred to as “contradictions in government actions”.
In his words; “That is not agitation. That is a warm-up. I tell you, I pray to God Almighty that we will resolve the matter. That was not agitation; that was a fashion parade.
“I just came from Lagos. You see, we are all planning. Everybody is all over the country planning. This democracy is more important to me than being a billionaire, more important to me than anything else, because it is the ability of the black man to have a country of his own where he can exercise his talent, protect his family, protect his children, and project our power to the world. That is true democracy.
“The same government is saying that they caught coup plotters. All of us were worried. You called me to the studio here. We were discussing that if you are a coup plotter, we deal with you in this country.
“Why are we dealing with coup plotters while allowing coup plotters to be in the National Assembly and frustrate the intentions of the people of Nigeria? What we need to understand is representative government,” he stressed.
