The national chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Alhaji Shehu Gabam, has said that while other opposition parties may not have been active in challenging the government, the party has been doing what is expected of an opposition and even more.
Are you comfortable with the present economic situation in the country? Why are you not speaking out as an opposition party?
In the first place, I don’t know any responsible person that would be comfortable with the current situation in the country. The political environment is charged with the destabilisation of political parties through a deliberate action to create more confusion, which is affecting the country. This is coupled with the security situation that has affected the food supply chain. I believe that something needs to be done. The government needs to understand that we are all stakeholders in the system, so we need to work together to protect the institutions of democracy.
This ambition of killing other political parties to have a one-party system will never work. History has proven that time and time again. Remember that there was an attempt for tenure elongation in the past and it did not work.
Nigerians are very resilient; and they (ruling party) will be in for a shocker if they continue to muzzle other political parties. The table will turn on them, just the way the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) took things for granted doing all sorts of things until they lost the federal government. They should learn from the PDP experience and be cautious. They have not been able to add any value to the economy since they came. They are just experimenting here and there.
As an opposition, what are you doing to correct this?
People should be fair to the SDP. There is no party that has been more vocal in terms of raising observations and offering constructive advice to the government to remedy the situation than the SDP. Virtually every week, we update citizens about what is happening and advise the government. We are doing everything humanly possible to offer friendly advice.
The system is already chaotic, so we don’t want to add to a fragile system because nobody knows who is going to be a victim. All we are doing are within the limits of civility, using modest language so as not to escalate the situation.
We use friendly language to make the government understand that things are not well. We are engaging the government to do the right thing. For instance, we told this government that they didn’t have a cabinet. We told them clearly that if the president wanted to make a head way, he must purge 70 per cent of his cabinet to give room for people with capacity. And the president at a time admitted it. So he is heeding to some of our advice. For instance, we advised him to work on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) because they are the bigger institutions in the country.
There are suggestions that the cabinet should have been all-inclusive. What would be the response of the SDP if asked to nominate from its fold?
We are not advising him because the SDP wants to be part of the government. There’s surplus of talents in Nigeria capable of driving the government. What we are saying is: Get competent Nigerians to handle some of these ministries and agencies the government is relying on. When the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced Tinubu as the winner of the presidential election, we were the first to address a press conference, urging Nigerians to allow democracy to prevail as there is no perfect election anywhere in the world. As democrats, we agreed that as we move on we would be correcting some of the defects.
We told him that based on the number of people that voted for him, the legitimacy level was very low. We advised him to form an inclusive government, which he said he was going to do. We did that, not because we were expecting anything but because we want the country to work.
Most political parties are in crisis. Are you using that to your advantage?
I am not new in politics; I was part of those who formed the PDP from the scratch. The SDP is the most peaceful party because we welcome diversity; and in terms of rating, we are on top. We are not just providing opposition but stability as well, adding value in terms of protecting democracy.
You must be aware of the high profile persons that have been discussing with the SDP. It is in the media and it is an ongoing conversation. We are focused and preparing our base to face 2027; and by the grace of God, we will win the presidency.
Parties have their bases, where would you say is the stronghold of the SDP?
We came from a zero position to winning seats in the Senate, House of Representatives and state assemblies. We moved from not having even a councillor to having seats at the state assemblies and the National Assembly. If you look at where we are coming from, compared to what the All Progressives Congress (APC), PDP, Labour Party (LP) or the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) have, in terms of resources and elected officials, you would understand that we confronted the system more than any other party.
The phenomenon of opposition parties adopting candidates of other parties on the eve of elections is said to be responsible for the weak opposition being experienced. But it has never happened under my leadership. During the last presidential election, I announced that we were not in alliance with any party— we were standing on our own.
There is a difference between someone who just joined politics and one who has experience. As an experienced career person, I know the consequences of mortgaging candidates because of money; it kills visions. The morale of party members would be dead. So we restored confidence in the SDP; that was why we were able to win elections. Had it been that we compromised or asked our supporters to vote for candidates of other parties, we wouldn’t have been able to win the seats we won in 2023. There were efforts to make us compromise, but I rejected it because I know the consequences. I will never do that.
Join Daily Trust WhatsApp Community For Quick Access To News and Happenings Around You.
