UPDATE: SDP expels Gana, Shonibare, suspends Duke for anti-party activities

ANOTHER faction of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) led by Professor Tunde Adeniran, on Tuesday, expelled and suspended three of its chieftains from the party for alleged anti-party activities.

Professor Jerry Gana and the National Vice Chairman, South-West, Chief Supo Shonibare were expelled, while Mr Donald Duke was suspended from the party.

It will be recalled that Professor Gana took the party to court because of his displeasure and disagreement with the outcome of the party’s presidential primaries, where Mr Duke emerged the winner of the election.

Addressing newsmen in Abuja, the party’s Director of Media and Publicity, Honourable Yemi Akinbode, said the new leadership under the chairmanship of Professor Adeniran would no longer tolerate any form of ethnic, religious or any form of divisive engagement whatsoever in the SDP again.

According to him, the SDP is a dignified national political party, whose principles and objectives are to unite the people by healing the wounds of the past.

He said the party has, therefore, come to the realisation that Professor Gana’s legal suit was motivated by nothing than arrogance, greed, ethnicity and nepotism, and he had demonstrated the highest level of disloyalty and antithetical behaviour that has no iota of goodwill and respect for the ideals and principles of one indivisible, progressive and united Nigeria.

Honourable Akinbode said it was very clear that Professor Gana has become a divisive politician that has nothing to give back to Nigeria than inciting and promoting religious bigotry in a volatile country like Nigeria.

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The party’s spokesperson explained that the party had looked at Gana’s recent engagement on the SDP crisis, his utterances, his anti-party activities, most especially, his latest stunt and moves of setting up a parallel National Executive Committee (NEC) to bring down the party and its leadership.

The party, according to him, considered it as an affront on the party leadership and disregard for the party regulations and constitutional provisions. This is the highest form of anti-party activity which is not expected of a distinguished and decent leader.

“Such activities amount to illegality in its crudest form, these engagements are unconstitutional and totally unacceptable to us. Above all, the insults from Professor Gana, the supposed Presidential Candidate, up till today, there is no traces of a campaign office in Niger State, where our revered Professor hails from.

“Consequently, the National Working Committee (NWC) of our great party, based on the power vested in the Article 19:4, that the party shall have exclusive powers to suspend any member of the party for violation of the party’s constitution, anti-party activities or on recommendation of the appropriate Executive Committee to be ratified by NEC and in cases of gross violation, expel any member of the party, to be ratified by the National Convention (the Constitution of the SDP 2018, as amended) hereby expel Professor Jerry Gana from the party with immediate effect.

On Shonibare, the suspended National Vice Chairman, Honourable Akinbode said in a sensitive zone like the South West, it would no longer serve the party any good, if his indulgence, gross misconduct and affront are not put under check.

He said he had never done anything to the growth of the party in the zone, thereby making the party the least enviable political party in the zone.

“It is absurd that a member of the NWC, who is expected to understand the penalty for constitutional breaches and anti-party activities. In a despicable manner that is only befitting of a relic, Shonibare has made himself the arrow-head of a dissidents group in a party that has laws and order thereby declaring himself a factional national chairman of SDP, in an event covered by the media. He has decided to take law into his own hands. Based on the foregoing and others, the NWC of the SDP, hereby, expel Chief Supo Shonibare from the SDP with immediate effect.

On Duke, he said for his disrespect for the leadership of the party that has done so much for him and for also his disobedience to the rules and regulations of the party, he had erred and the law must take its course, and by relying on the provision of the constitution of the party, NWC ordered for his immediate suspension.