PRESIDENTIAL candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the 2023 general elections, Adewole Adebayo, has lamented external influence in the leadership crisis rocking the party.
Adebayo criticised the actions of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), warning that the Commission’s recent actions have reinforced public suspicion of external interference in Nigeria’s electoral process.
He described as troubling and politically consequential, the removal of Sadiq Abubakar Gombe’s name as SDP national chairman from INEC’s website and its replacement with that of Shehu Musa Gabam.
He tackled the INEC Chairman, Joash Amupitan, Adebayo, for allowing “himself to confirm what has been suspected of him, that he is not running INEC to achieve competitive elections, that he is just a drone being flown from the Villa,” saying the move, coming amid conflicting signals about party leadership, raises serious questions about whether the electoral body is acting independently.
“These kinds of inconsistencies only deepen an already troubling perception, that decisions may not be entirely institutional,” he added.
INEC’s website currently reflects a National Working Committee (NWC), led by Gabam, with several entries, marked “By Court Order,” but Adebayo dismissed the update as administratively irrelevant to determining party leadership.
He insisted: “The authority to determine leadership does not lie with a website; it lies with the Constitution, the Electoral Act and binding judicial pronouncements of the Supreme Court.”
He said fluctuating entries on the INEC portal, where different names appear at different times, undermine public confidence, adding: “If you go and check the website, sometimes you will see Gombe, sometimes you will see Gabam, but that is not the Constitution, the Electoral Act or judicial pronouncements.
“The INEC website is not one of the sources for becoming anything.”
He recalled that disputes over recognition in the party had previously been taken to the Supreme Court, where INEC was finned N2million, noting: “So, when they didn’t put Gombe’s name there and he signed documents, we went all the way to the Supreme Court, and INEC was fined.
“If they are instructed to change the name on their website, that is their lookout.”
He also cited inconsistencies in other parties’ listings, as evidence of systemic lapses, adding: “If you check party by party, in many cases it is not the actual people running the party as INEC is putting there.
“If you look at PRP, the name of Falalu Bello is still there, even though Hakeem Baba Ahmed is the chairman.”
He charged INEC to re-examine its ICT department, amid suspicions from party members that recent changes may be linked to political narratives of a supposed SDP leadership crisis.
He alleged that INEC action is suspected to be coming, following Senator Aliyu Wadada’s claim at the National Assembly last Thursday, noting: “One of our senators, Aliyu Wadada, went to the National Assembly and claimed there is a leadership tussle in the SDP. That is why he is leaving. But there is no leadership crisis.
“Gaban has not gone to court to file any suit and we have not said we have any problem with him or anybody.”
Adebayo stressed that the situation would not affect the party’s preparations, saying: “The only thing is that it may affect the INEC chairman. If he doesn’t know about it, he is incompetent. If he knows about it, then he is foolish.”
He said SDP remained focused on its broader political objective ahead of 2027. “We are not going to be distracted. The real thing we are focused on is how to remove Bola Tinubu from the presidency in 2027 and how to knock out most of the people in the National Assembly who are moribund there.
“We are focused on giving Nigerians the opportunity to choose very good governors and patriotic lawmakers. We are focused on how to get rid of Bola Tinubu, who is a cancer to the body politic of Nigeria.”
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