Trending 
A former presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Adewole Adebayo, has blamed poor governance for Nigeria’s poverty.
Speaking in an interview on News Central’s 60 Minutes With Mr Kay, Adebayo described Nigeria as an oasis of prosperity but said the government is the source of its poverty.
He outlined five measures to tackle the country’s high poverty rate, including curbing corruption, which he said diverts funds meant for poverty alleviation. He also called for efforts to address unemployment by creating more jobs.
“Nigeria is an oasis of prosperity.”
Presidential aspirant Adewole Adebayo says Nigeria’s poverty problem is not about resources, but how the country is governed.
Full 📹: https://t.co/xnOxxHxCP3 pic.twitter.com/dKcSfxv2Wa
— News Central TV (@NewsCentralTV) May 2, 2026
“What is happening is that the government is the source of the poverty. So once I take hold of the government, there are five things I’m going to do and you won’t see poverty anymore. One is that you need to stop the corruption.
“I know it sounds cliché, but it’s not. You need to stop the corruption because every amount of money being stolen is money you could have used to address poverty. Second, you need to address the issue of employment and engagement with the local community, which means that poverty and insecurity are linked together,” said Adebayo.
Other measures he recommended include infrastructure development, tackling inflation, and reducing government spending.
He also criticised President Bola Tinubu for installing solar panels at the Aso Rock Villa despite promising Nigerians a stable electricity supply when elected.
“Fourth, we bring down inflation because one of the top drivers of poverty, and it’s going to happen to middle-class poverty as well, is inflation. Because when you don’t have a job, your case is simple. But when you have a job, and you’re earning a million naira, you cannot support a family of four in the city.
So we bring down inflation. And how do we bring down inflation? We discipline the spending. The president is totally indisciplined in handling fiscal and monetary aspects.
