SDP presidential candidate warns against shifting general elections over Ebola
Presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Adewole Adebayo, has cautioned against postponing the 2027 general elections over Ebola, saying a single confirmed case does not constitute an epidemic.
Adebayo spoke on Sunday at a dinner organised by the SDP Presidential Campaign Council in Abuja, arguing that Nigeria could protect public health without disrupting the electoral process.
His comments followed the confirmation of an Ebola case involving a 42-year-old woman in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and the investigation of a suspected case in Rivers State.
The Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), Jide Idris, said the agency had identified 53 primary contacts and was monitoring people who might have been exposed to the confirmed case.
“Ebola is not the biggest public health crisis we have in Nigeria,” Adebayo said, accusing the All Progressives Congress (APC) government of handling the situation without sufficient transparency.
He recalled Nigeria’s response to the 2014 Ebola outbreak under former President Goodluck Jonathan, when Patrick Sawyer brought the virus into the country and physician Stella Adadevoh played a leading role in treating him.
Adebayo insisted that political campaigns, rallies and the 2027 election should not be cancelled or postponed because of the disease. He urged Nigerians to observe precautionary measures, report suspected symptoms to health authorities and vote out the APC.
The SDP candidate also urged voters to scrutinise his party’s manifesto, saying its proposals had been published in English, Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba and other Nigerian languages.
