We don’t want merger because it is designed to create crisis —Gabam, SDP national chairman

Shehu Gabam, the national chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), in this interview with journalists, touches on the ongoing realignment of forces by some political leaders to produce the next president, as well as the fate of the SDP national secretary, Dr Olu Agunloye, emergency rule in Rivers State, insecurity in Nigeria, among other issues. OSARETIN OSADEBAMWEN was there and brings the excerpts:

MR Chairman, there has been much discussion about a coalition or alliance involving different political parties. Members of the public want to know whether your party will be the instrument that galvanises this coalition or alliance.

 It’s not about the party; it’s about the willingness of who wants to join the Social Democratic Party (SDP) to make up their mind that ‘yes, we found the SDP, we like it, we want to abide by the code of conduct of the party.’ The SDP is a very strong institution and we are positioning it to be like the African National Congress (ANC) of South Africa, where the party is supreme; like the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) during the Shehu Shagari regime in the Second Republic in Nigeria. With the manifesto of the party, whoever emerges as elected president, will abide by the manifesto of the SDP. Not that he would bring his own private manifesto outside that of the party intended to change the narrative and improve the standard of living of Nigerians. You see, that’s where we are getting it wrong.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) manifesto was never implemented. People started implementing their own personal agenda. The same thing is happening to the All Progressives Congress (APC), none of their manifesto was implemented. People are implementing something they want with no recourse to the party’s manifesto.  So, the mistake of the PDP and the APC is what is giving us the courage to change the status quo and come up with a model that will protect every Nigerian and protect the system itself.

 

 Some members of your party seem to be uncomfortable with some people coming to join the party.

 Who are the members of the party not comfortable with anyone joining the party?

 

We heard recently that the National Secretary, Dr Olu Agunloye said that certain forces are trying to force him to resign. How true is this?

 No, it’s not true.

 

Did he say so?

 He did not say so. Okay. He is talking about a person or two, and not the party’s Executive Committee at the headquarters. They have a misunderstanding with two party chairmen in the states. And he was on national television, where he explained it vividly. They petitioned the Inspector General of Police over the two people. So, it has nothing to do with the party that is intact.

 The presidential candidates of the party, Adewole Adebayo has in recent times been talking about those who are joining the party to drop their ego and also that they should know that the SDP is not in any way fighting with the presidency or the president.  I assume that there is a friction already.

No, if there is any friction, you are the one creating the friction.  The former presidential candidate of our party is not a spokesman of the party. The party has its elected members in the National Working Committee (NWC). We have spokesmen. Apart from that, the constitution of the party is very clear. Let me read it to you, so that you will understand: ‘There shall be a national chairman of the party who shall be the chief executive officer of the party.’ So, we don’t have a national leader.

The national leader of the party is the chairman who is also the chief executive officer of the party. Okay? So we have so many people who have contested under SDP before who are willing to come back. The party is open for all Nigerians. We know the process. We are trying to run an institution. We are not new to it. It’s not about making public statements. If we have not maintained our standard, perhaps we wouldn’t have been here today. So, we know the processes and we understand the processes and we have implemented them.

I was one of those who fought for the restoration of democracy in 1999 from G7. I don’t see anyone who has CV better than me in this politics right now. They can’t tell me these are the processes or these are not the processes. One thing about people is that a lot of people like showbiz. But as a party, we are well entrenched in our system and we abide by the rules of our own system. People should be very careful how they talk because efforts have been made in the past to see that SDP has issues. We blocked all those loopholes. We have the antidote to some of this rubbish. And we are capable of facing any situation.  After all, political parties are about crisis and crisis management.

 

Are all positions/tickets in the SDP open for contest as you are saying no pre-condition would be accepted from any bigwig coming to the party?

 All tickets are open for contest. There are no reservations. My own seat is also open for contest at the convention. Like I said, we want to build an institution. I was part of those as the youngest Nigerian from the G7 to G18 to G34 that led to the registration of PDP.  It pains me that, that institution has been crippled.

It’s not about the institution.  It’s about Nigerian institutions that have been destroyed.  It’s about our freedom, all of us; that have been destroyed. A party that has ruled for 16 years has been decimated. No responsible Nigerian or democrat will be happy about that. None!

So, we should strengthen institutions, not to kill institutions because of some parochial interests. It will affect all of us, irrespective of what you do because if we choose democracy, which means the environment for you to function has to be created politically. If there is no conducive environment, the journalism you are playing today, you will not be able to do it.  So once you allow the system to be modelled by a few individuals who don’t believe in transparency and accountability and the rule of law, we will all be victims.  No one will be spared.  Dictatorship will key in. Then, I wouldn’t know the difference between it and the military regime.

 

As an opposition party, what do you think you would have done differently? 

 If we had won the presidential election in 2023, everything would have been done differently because the constitution is very clear.  One, the protection of the live and property of Nigerians would be guaranteed. Once we are elected, irrespective of your party, it is no longer about your party, because you were sworn with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to abide by the rules. Okay? Securing every citizen is your primary responsibility as President and Commander-in-Chief.  Two, you create a friendly, conducive environment that is inviting for both domestic and international investors.

You should create deterrence for those who feel they are above the law. Nobody is indispensable. The moment you allow people to feel they are indispensable, you will never have peace. It is the reason you have non-state actors challenging the state of Nigeria.  It is the reason you have commissioners of police, directors of Department of State Security (DSS) in the states, brigade commandants within whose jurisdiction a major crime will happen without tracing them. It is the reason you see people kidnap children and others from school in large numbers as if they are ants. You put them in your hand and they disappear. It is lawlessness. It is not because we don’t have competent people in Nigeria. We have them in excess. When you don’t engage them, you don’t deploy them, and you don’t have skillful people around, you will fail as a President.

It’s not about you as an individual.  It’s about institutions. That’s why there are ladders there. There are divisions of levels because the expectation is that you will have weakness as a human being. Somebody has to strengthen where you are weak. That’s what governance is all about.  But the moment you apply the principle of monopoly in running the government, you have failed already.

 

If your party was in power, would it have handled the Rivers State situation differently?

 What did the Constitution say? Did the Constitution provide powers for presidents to suspend elected governors and elected state Assembly members? There’s no provision in the Constitution.  I am not the only one. Virtually every legal mind and the international community, have condemned the action.

A state of emergency was declared during the presidency of Dr Goodluck Jonathan. Was an elected member removed? So, there are processes that are known to the law. You can’t apply impunity, recklessness, and rascality simply because you are the President and Commander-in-Chief.

There were presidents before you. And we have presidents who died in office. The events happened there as a lesson to everyone. Those who beat their chest that nothing will happen are ignorant of nature. You can’t confront nature. You can’t step into shoes that are not your own. If they feel that they cannot reflect back and get their memory right, there will be a lesson. A serving president lost election. A serving president placed a call and conceded before the Independent National electoral Commission (INEC) announced the election. That is a lesson for the nation. It’s a lesson for the nation. A serving president wants to go for third term. Nigerians did not agree. Often people are underrating the average Nigerian on what they are capable of doing at the last minute.

 Ignorantly, once they enter the office, they believe that all is done, as the President and Commander-in-Chief, nobody will move.  People are moving, people are coughing, and people are reacting. There’s nothing you can do about it. The Constitution protects them. But some of you have to say the facts the way they are because you have the archives, you have the history. What is the essence of recycling things that don’t work for the country?   We have to outgrow all these emotional issues and face the business of building a nation where all of us and our children can be grateful to us.  That’s what we are into in SDP.

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