Prince Adewole Adebayo has emerged as the Social Democratic Party's presidential candidate for 2023.
Adebayo won the party's standard bearer election with 1,526 votes at the party's National Convention in Abuja on Wednesday, defeating the only other candidate, Ms. Khadija Lamidi, who received 83 votes.
Umar Ardo, the Convention Returning Officer, estimated that 1,653 ballots were cast, with 1,609 legitimate votes and 44 invalid votes.
In his acceptance speech, Adebayo, a 54-year-old lawyer and founder of KAFTAN Television, declared that his election signals that the Nigerian public will take power in 2023.
He claimed that it was now the citizens without food, those who graduated without work or were prevented from graduating due to the strike's impact, who would reap the benefits of democracy.
In the 2023 general elections, Adebayo promised that the SDP would give the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress, and the Peoples Democratic Party a "good battle."
"We will campaign in every family, polling unit, ward, local government, state, zone, and country."
"We'll show Nigerians that food, water, energy, shelter, education, and medical care are not prayer points," Adebayo stated.
He asked Nigerians to join the SDP, register to vote with INEC, open their eyes, spread the word about the party, and vote out bad politicians in 2023.
The presidential contender acknowledged the other candidates who ran against him, including some who dropped out along the way.
He congratulated the SDP delegates for voting for someone new rather than for moneybags politicians or those who want to stay in power indefinitely.
He claimed that the SDP had shown that a political party could hold a credible convention and that MPs could put their personal interests aside for the greater good of the country.
Alhaji Shehu Gabam, the SDP National Chairman, encouraged everyone who voted to participate in the campaign, saying it was a collective effort.