The Presidential Candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Prince Adewole Adebayo, is visiting the U.S. by invitation to attend a stakeholder meeting with the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom.
Prince Adewole Adebayo will also be meeting with ambassadors, State Department officials, university officials, and the National Black Chamber of Commerce, among others. He is also scheduled to attend a national Presidential Prayer Breakfast committee luncheon in Arlington.
"The United States is an important ally to my country," Adebayo said upon arriving to Washington, DC. "It is an honor to have this chance to make my case to the American people and seek ways to further build on our international relationship."
Adebayo is campaigning on accountability and good governance platform in a country where corruption has historically been a challenge. Adebayo's campaign is the only presidential candidate who has accepted the challenge of the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountable Project (SERAP) to declare his assets publicly. No other presidential candidate has accepted the challenge.
Adebayo's presidential candidature has ruffled feathers in the old political order and has become a great excitement of hope in young Nigerians home and abroad. Adebayo's political party, the Social Democratic Party, won the freest and fairest presidential election since democracy icon MKO Abiola won in 1993.
Adebayo's campaign has been met with hope and optimism by voters, as exemplified by Adebayo's wide-margin victory in the race for the SDP nomination and significant positive coverage by Nigerian media.
The U.S. and Nigeria share close bonds with Nigeria counted as one of the U.S.'s most important partners in Africa. The U.S. is a principal foreign investor in Nigeria and two-way trade in goods and services typically exceeds $10 billion. Additionally, over a million Nigerians and Nigerian-Americans live, study, and work in the U.S.
"We have much to learn from each other and I am determined that, under an Adebayo presidency, we in Abuja will work with Washington for heightened mutual benefit," Adebayo said.
Adebayo's own relationship with the U.S. is extensive having studied law in the U.S. and now licensed to practice in California, New York and has been involved extensively in litigation and arbitration cases in Australia, UK, Singapore, and other jurisdictions. He is currently Chairman of U.S.-based Blueprint Global Group and Board Advisor to the National Black Chamber of Commerce.
Adebayo is also the Chairman of Sai Phytochemicals which produces drugs for treatment of sickle cell anemia in India and Nigeria. As the Chairman of Africa Dialogue Mission, Adebayo was appointed by the United Nations as commissioner on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for Liberia in 2006. He later founded KAFTAN TV which provides news to over 6 million homes in 20 countries and for which he was awarded Best Media Proprietor of the Year by the Nigerian Union of Journalists. He has sponsored the education of thousands of youths from all over Nigeria and Africa.