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The Social Democratic Party (SDP) says it plans to tackle poverty, insecurity and corruption through improved electricity supply, agricultural development, technology and reforms aimed at reducing the cost of governance.
The party’s vice-presidential candidate, Usman Bugaje, disclosed this while explaining the policy direction of the SDP and its presidential candidate, Adewale Adebayo, ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
Bugaje said the party’s approach would focus on addressing the underlying causes of Nigeria’s economic and security challenges rather than treating them as isolated problems.
According to him, poverty and insecurity are closely connected, making economic empowerment an important part of the SDP’s proposed security strategy.
“Poverty has created much of the insecurity that we have,” Bugaje said, arguing that efforts to improve security must also create economic opportunities for Nigerians.
Bugaje identified electricity as one of the major areas the SDP would prioritise, saying reliable power supply is critical to reviving businesses, industries and job creation.
He said Nigeria could not effectively fight poverty without addressing the country’s power challenges.
“Electricity is key to ending Nigeria’s poverty,” Bugaje said, stressing that businesses need dependable power to operate, expand and employ more people.
He also identified agriculture as another major tool for reducing poverty and unemployment.
According to him, the SDP would focus on improving farmers’ access to quality seeds, affordable loans and other inputs while developing agricultural value chains that would enable farmers to earn more from their produce.
Bugaje said Nigeria had significant agricultural potential but had failed to fully translate that potential into improved productivity and widespread economic opportunities.
On insecurity, Bugaje said the party would combine economic interventions with technology and stronger political will.
He argued that deploying security personnel alone would not be enough if the economic conditions driving criminality remained unaddressed.
“You cannot deal with insecurity without dealing with poverty,” he said.
Bugaje also proposed greater use of technology as part of the response to insecurity, arguing that Nigeria needs a more modern and coordinated approach to identifying and responding to security threats.
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He said political will would also be necessary to implement difficult decisions required to address the country’s security challenges.
On corruption, Bugaje said the SDP would seek to reduce opportunities for leakages while also cutting the cost of running government.
He argued that Nigeria needed stronger institutions and a political system that prioritises ideas and effective governance over personalities.
“Nigeria needs ideas, not big men,” Bugaje said.
He said the SDP’s proposed approach would therefore involve changing the way government operates and ensuring that public resources are directed towards improving the lives of citizens.
Bugaje also explained why he joined Adebayo’s presidential ticket and chose to contest under the SDP platform.
He said the ticket represented an attempt to offer Nigerians a different approach to politics and governance.
“We’re starting something completely different,” he said.
Bugaje said the party’s message was built around what he described as a “farewell to poverty” agenda, with emphasis on improving living conditions rather than simply promising political change.
He said the SDP was not interested in what he described as the conventional politics of relying on prominent individuals, but wanted to place ideas and policy proposals at the centre of its campaign.
Bugaje maintained that poverty, insecurity and corruption could not be effectively addressed separately because the problems reinforce one another.
He said economic hardship could contribute to insecurity, while corruption could prevent public resources from being effectively deployed to address poverty and provide basic infrastructure.
The SDP vice-presidential candidate said the party would therefore approach the issues as interconnected challenges requiring simultaneous action.
“We’re saying farewell to poverty,” Bugaje said, stressing that the party’s proposed policies would focus on electricity, agriculture, job creation, security and governance.
He urged Nigerians to pay attention to the ideas and policy proposals of political parties ahead of the 2027 election, rather than concentrating solely on the personalities of candidates.
