By Jude Opara
The National Chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Prof. Sadiq Gombe has praised the people of Osun state for standing their ground and elect the candidate of their choice in the just concluded governorship election, despite what he described as the brazen efforts of the All Progressives Congress (APC) government to take the state.
Gombe who briefed newsmen on the aftermath of the Osun election also added that the glaring poor showing of the SDP does not represent the true strength of the party.
“Osun people have taught Nigerians a great lesson and we in the SDP believe we are a stand out party that is best suited to rescue Nigeria in 2027.
“What we are taking away is that there is nothing like the big or small party in our politiy again. On paper Accord is classified as a small party but they have been able to defeat the ruling APC because the people were resolute.
“Secondly, there is no strength in the argument that political parties must come together before they can confront the APC does not hold water. What the people need is a candidate that has capacity and credibility, they don’t care about the size of the party”.
He explained that the party which has faced series of litigations was only included on the ballot with just few days to the election after the Court of Appeal ruled in the leadership crisis that have rocked the party.
“We were in court in respect of the candidate of the party for the Osun governorship election. It was only a few days before the Court of Appeal ruled in our favour. It also took us time to get the Certified True Copy (CTC) before we were able to forward it to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“It’s like the norm because it also happened in the last Ekiti state governorship election. Our agents were even not allowed in some places because the time was very short.
“So what happened in Osun is not the true strength of the SDP because some voters had already taken their position on the party to vote for before we were cleared by the court”.
The SDP boss also gave kudos to INEC and the security agencies for the way the handled their responsibilities.
“We accept that INEC and the security agencies did their best in Osun. The people’s will prevailed and the people also defended their votes on favour of the incumbent governor.
“Despite all odds, INEC distinguished themselves, they conducted themselves professionally and that means that if Nigerians are ready to take back their country, nothing is going to stop them.
“From our interaction with the INEC Chairman and his team, they have always promised us that they are going to do the right thing. We will not shy away, not feel guilty of saying it if INEC does the right thing”.
Gombe further urged Nigerians to support the presidential candidate of the SDP, Prince Adewole Adebayo in the 2027 election, insisting that he is the best candidate with the best credentials to rescue Nigeria from the APC.
“In terms of capacity, knowledge, competency, character, humility and with the ability to unite the country, Prince Adewole Adebayo stands out. He has the best qualities to lead the country, as well as what it takes to project Nigeria as the leading nation in Africa.
“Instead of those who are just their for their personal interest, the SDP candidate has the overall interest of the country at heart. I assure Nigerians that they will not lose anything by voting for our candidate. Even the APC know that the SDP is the party to beat in the next election”.
He equally charged Nigerians, especially those from the North and South East whom he said are suffering the effects of bad governance more to emulate the Osun voters by protecting their votes in 2027.
“If the people of Osun will come out to defend their mandate, then I challenge the people of the North and South East that have always suffered the effects of bad governance to also come out and do so.
“We saw where people were given as huge as N50k in vote buying, yet they remained resolute in voting according their conscience in the interest of their state”.
However, on the effective management of the forthcoming general elections, the SDP National Chairman urged INEC and the other stakeholders involved in election management to try and work out the modalities to achieve such high success, especially with the management of security.
“Whatever that was achieved in Osun, we heard that each of the 30 local government areas of the state was manned by a Police Commissioner. I don’t know if we have about 774 Police Commissioners that will take charge in the 2027 general elections. We believe that as we move closer to the election, INEC and the security agencies will have to find a way around it”.
On the reported moves by the opposition to merge, the SDP boss insisted that the move to defeat the APC must be guided by genuine and selfless decisions.
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