The embattled National Chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Alhaji Shehu Gabam, has said that he remained in charge of the party’s affairs.
According to Gabam, talks around the coalition to wrestle power from APC on 2027, were behind the crisis that has rocked the SDP, adding that he was still the National Chairman of the party.
Gabam also debunked his purported suspension from office, describing it as “fake news”, which should be disregarded.
Speaking with journalists at the National Secretariat of the party in Abuja on Tuesday, along with the members of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party over his purported suspension, Gabam said, “I remain the National Chairman of the SDP, as you can see.”
He explained that such a decision was not taken at an official meeting of the party’s NWC and wondered where the statement originated from.
He further explained that a private legal firm had approached the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and requested a meeting of the party’s NWC, but the Commission rejected the request.
According to him, “the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) tagged the request by the party’s National Secretary to hold a National Working Committee (NWC) meeting as illegal since it didn’t have my signature.”
Gabam also lamented that the coalition, which wanted to destroy the SDP because it couldn’t have it, was masterminding the crisis in the party.
According to him, “I think we had this crisis before. It is now rearing its head. Some of us understand where it is coming from because this coalition and some people in the coalition believe that, at all cost, they either get SDP or create confusion around SDP. So many forces from so many fronts see SDP as deadly or very, very strong that they cannot manoeuvre it.”