The expelled National Chairman of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, Shehu Gabam, has insisted that he remains the legitimate chairman of the party.
In a statement issued on Friday in Abuja by his Special Assistant (Legal), Abubakar Baba, the embattled SDP leader described his reported expulsion from the party as illegal, null, and void.
He condemned the move as a desperate attempt by impostors to destabilise the party, insisting that the purported action was unconstitutional and of no consequence.
Recall that Gabam, along with the National Youth Leader, Dr Ogbonna Uchechukwu, and several others, was expelled on Thursday following a meeting of the National Working Committee, NWC, in Abuja.
Reacting to the development, Gabam said “the said meeting is illegal, null and void, and of no effect whatsoever.”
Citing Article 13 (iv) of the SDP Constitution, which empowers only the National Chairman to preside over meetings of the National Convention, National Executive Committee, National Working Committee, and National Caucus, he said: “I remain the national chairman of the SDP. Any meeting convened or presided over without the consent of the duly recognised chairman constitutes a gross violation of its constitution and a brazen attempt to usurp legitimate authority.”
Gabam also criticised the National Secretary, Olu Agunloye, for allegedly writing to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to communicate the purported decisions of the meeting, describing the action as a breach of Part 2 (12) 3 of the INEC Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties, 2022.
