THE EXCLUSION OF THE SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY FROM THE MEETING ARRANGED BY THE INDEPENDENT NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION (INEC) WITH LEADERS OF POLITICAL PARTIES IN NIGERIA
The leadership of the Social Democratic Party SDP has sent in a letter of protest directly to the new chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC for the exclusion of its party from the meeting of INEC with registered parties in Nigeria which took place on 14 October 2025 at the INEC Headquarters in Abuja.
The party pointed out that it did not receive any notice of invitation from INEC at any time and petitioned the INEC Chairman saying, “Worse still, it would appear as if a personal invitation was sent to Alhaji Shehu Musa Gabam secretly by INEC staff or courier to enable him to attend the INEC gathering purportedly as one representing the SDP, despite that Alhaji Gabam had been suspended.”
The Party further wrote: “Ma, it has become imperative for us to formally inform the INEC Chairman and remind the Commission that Alhaji Shehu Musa Gabam, erstwhile National Chairman of the SDP and two others were indeed suspended by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the Party on 24 June 2025 and were subsequently reported to law enforcement agencies. In fact, the National Working Committee of the SDP, considered the submissions that Alhaji Gabam and others were found to have shown disloyalty to the Party, failed to show leadership, and were involved in antiparty misconduct and breach of SDP Constitution; and more so, that they participated in a financial racket along with other persons to make spurious withdrawals from two SDP bank accounts estimated at hundreds of millions of Naira without due process, valid payment vouchers or approvals and contrary to the stipulations and guidelines in the Constitution of the Party. This suspension by NWC was communicated in our letter Ref.: SDP-nhq/0625/NWC/T.01 of 25 June 2025 and was acknowledged by INEC on 26 June 2025.”
SDP urged the INEC to note that the SDP national secretariat officially registered with the Commission is still at 17 Nairobi Street, Wuse II, Abuja. It has been at the same place since the 2018, that is for 7 years. It is properly and appropriately manned 24 hour per day and 7 days per week and it is to this address that all correspondences should be delivered.
In addition, the INEC Chairman was requested to please appoint any convenience time to enable SDP to bring all the 11-member NWC to hold a brief meeting with the INEC Chairman to provide more information and details about the Social Democratic Party for clarity.
signed
Professor Sadiq Umar Abubakar Gombe Dr Olu Agunloye
Acting National Chairman National Secretary
15 Oct 2025
