The presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Prince Adewole Adebayo, has said there will no longer be any leadership dispute in the opposition party for the next 100 years.
Speaking on Wednesday after the Court of Appeal judgment recognising Prof. Abubakar Sadiq Gombe’s leadership of the SDP, Adebayo said the party is now ready to get rid of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the 2027 general election.
Nigerian NewsSphere reports that the Court of Appeal, in a unanimous judgment delivered on Wednesday by a three-member panel comprising Justices Fadawu Umaru, M. Sule Hassan and Lateef Adebayo Ganiyu, set aside a Federal High Court judgment recognising the expelled Shehu Gabam as SDP chairman.
The Court of Appeal judgment also recognised Mr Francis Ajala as the rightful SDP candidate for Saturday’s, August 15, governorship election in Osun State.
In a swift response to the judgment, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Wednesday directed the reprinting of the Osun election ballot papers to include Ajala.
Giving further insight into the landmark judgment for the SDP, Adebayo said:
“I can tell you categorically, subject to the will of God, you will never hear of any leadership dispute in the SDP for the next 100 years.
“That is over and settled. It is how to get rid of Tinubu and his calamitous government that is now the agenda before the party and the people of Nigeria. It’s better late than never done.”
He further urged INEC to be careful and always adhere to instruments issued by the SDP’s national body.
Adebayo added that the Court of Appeal judgment had brought an end to what he described as President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s alleged involvement in the affairs of the SDP.
“So the key issue is that in future, INEC should be very careful with the SDP. Where we nominate candidates, take them where we make our decisions, respect them. When anybody is giving you direction from anywhere, whether it is in the Villa or anywhere else, just tell them that SDP has judicial immunity. Go and trouble other parties. We have earned our right to be left alone.
“This is our third missionary journey to the judiciary, and I think this is the end of INEC harassment of SDP or the misadventure of Bola Ahmed Tinubu inside the SDP. Thank you very much. Thank you so much. One, I think you will have it.”
On his part, SDP Chairman, Prof. Abubakar Sadiq Gombe, called for continued enlightenment on the need to ensure free, fair and credible elections in Nigeria.
“Going forward, I hope you are going to do everything possible to continue to enlighten the public toward having free, fair and credible 2027 general elections, with the SDP leading the pack of the other political parties in this country,” he said.
The party’s Deputy National Secretary, Senator Ugochukwu Uba, also toed the line of Gombe, advocating transparency in Nigeria’s electoral process.
