The National Publicity Secretary of the Social Democratic
Party, Mr. Alfa Mohammed, tells TOBI
AWORINDE that the party will form the majority in the
National Assembly before the 2019 elections
Can you
confirm that some governors and senators are set to defect to your
party?
First of all, you know there is a leadership vacuum created by
the two bigger parties – the Peoples Democratic Party and the All
Progressives Congress – as a result of bad governance. That led to
a situation where Nigerians were disillusioned and the search for
an alternative platform commenced. So, likeminded Nigerians from
the political class and the civil society organisations came
together and began the search for a new political platform that is
credible and capable of ushering in a credible government that will
implement the people’s programme. It is a fact that five governors
and 35 senators have been meeting and they have endorsed this
coming together. They are strongly behind it and it does not end
there; others will also begin to join as soon as the time permits.
It has to do with strategy. So, it is a fact that we have those
numbers that we have been meeting with for some time, and for
strategic reasons, their names will not be mentioned now.
You may recall that during the 2015 elections, a similar
coalition was what led to the enthronement of the (now ruling) APC
government. So, a precedent was set during that election. It is now
clear that the easiest way to replace a non-performing government
in Nigeria is for the opposition to come together. It is therefore
a replay of what happened in the 2015 election that is about to
take place. So, it is obvious that Nigerians are disillusioned and
the government has not actually performed. It has not fulfilled its
promises of better electricity supply, employment creation and
security. All these have become worse under this government, and
because of that, stakeholders decided to come together and perform
a similar feat that was performed in 2015. So, right now, the
vehicle has started.
So, there is that consensus of opinion by a majority of those
who want to aspire to political offices in 2019 that they are at
home with the Chief Olu Falae’s leadership.
How can the SDP survive in a political climate
dominated by the APC and the PDP?
The party (SDP), as you know, has a long history. It has won
elections in the past at governorship level and even at
presidential level. This long history has also contributed to the
factors that have led to the adoption of the SDP. The party, as it
is now, despite the fact that it is an opposition party, has a
broad base. As I speak, if you go to Delta State, the SDP has
members in the state assembly. If you go to the North-Central
states of Adamawa and Taraba, we have members in the state
assemblies. Even nearby here in the Suleja Local Government Area
(Niger State), out of the 10 councillors, the SDP has three. So,
you can see that it is not a regional party. So, all these factors
contribute in large portion to earning the SDP the endorsement of
Nigerians. I say the endorsement of Nigerians because those who sat
in Ladi Kwali hall and endorsed the SDP last week (penultimate)
Thursday as the third platform to be used to usher in a credible
and people-oriented government in 2019.
Do you enjoy the backing of former President
Olusegun Obasanjo, being the most prominent advocate of a third
force?
As far as the SDP is concerned, we have been using the words
‘third force’ all along. Even now, in some of our write-ups, our
national chairman has continued to use ‘third force’, saying we are
the third force. So, it is not because (former) General Obasanjo
mentioned in the past few weeks that the words ‘third force’ are
coming to the vocabulary of Nigerians. It has always been our
watchword since the appearance of the SDP. But all the same, I
would not say we don’t enjoy the backing of (former) President
Obasanjo, though he has not come out openly (to express support for
SDP). But I can confirm to you that at all the meetings that led to
the emergence of the SDP as the adopted third force; some of the
members of Obasanjo’s coalition were there. The National
Intervention Movement — Dr. Jahlil Tafawa-Balewa; the South-West
Coordinator of the NIM, Dr. Olu Agunloye, and so on — were there.
Then, you have Sani Garba, who is a staunch member of the
coalition; he was there. In fact, he gave the closing remarks.
In Chief Obasanjo’s organisation, members were present and I
think it won’t be wrong if I say that the organisation was
represented at the endorsement ceremony of the SDP. The
organisation has not made an open declaration but we have a lot of
them coming. Very soon, when we are stabilised, one by one, the
organisations will visit the party secretariat and make open
declarations. It is a mass movement that we have now; the SDP has
become like a mass movement in Nigeria. Since that weekend when the
adoption took place, so many people have been trooping into this
party. The traffic of new members has become so high and it has
never happened in the history of Nigeria.
In fact, yesterday (Tuesday), a chieftain of the APC in Adamawa
State, Emma Bello, defected to the SDP. He is a former governorship
aspirant and a former member of the House of Representatives.
Similarly, today (Wednesday), about seven former commissioners in
Minna (Niger State) had discussions with me, and that is what is
happening all over the country. In the next few weeks, you will see
a great surprise. You will see the influx of progressive-minded
Nigerians into the SDP; not from the political class alone but even
from civil society organisations, youths and even market women.
Are the governors and senators all from one
party?
No. For the first time, let me make it a bit clear: For the
governors, three are from the PDP and two are from the APC. That is
the most I can say. I have not mentioned this to any correspondent.
For the senators, they are mixed and, as of this morning, our
contacts in the National Assembly informed me that people have
signified their interest and they have advised on what we should do
again. By the time we finish all the arrangements, I assure you
that the SDP will become the majority in the National Assembly
before the election, and I am sure of what I am telling you. It is
the truth. People have come to discover that there is the need for
a third force. The PDP has disappointed Nigerians and Nigerians. In
the quest for a change, they went for the APC, believing that it
would be the messiah they were waiting for. Regrettably, the PDP
was like Egypt, where the Jews were enslaved. And it was like the
APC took Nigerians to the wilderness and abandoned them. So,
Nigerians now are at a crossroads, whether to go back to slavery or
remain in the wilderness.. The SDP is therefore the vehicle that
will drive Nigerians to the Promised Land, insha’Allah.
Are the defectors from the same
region?
They are from different regions. This movement is about all the
regions now. I was at Hot FM this morning. If you listened, you
would have heard different calls coming in from Sokoto, Katsina,
Calabar and so on. It is a mass movement. What is happening now can
be likened to a football. You know the best time to unite Nigerians
is during football. Another source of unity for Nigerians now would
be the SDP. Nigerians will be united in the manner they are united
during football (matches). The SDP’s quest is to drive Nigerians to
the Promised Land.
Which presidential candidate will you put forward to
challenge President Muhammadu Buhari?
We have not got to that level, but we assure you that not only
presidential aspirants, we will educate the delegates in all the
primaries. We will educate every Nigerian that is involved in
elections on the need to vote and elect credible and competent
candidates because that is the first source of problems. When you
elect people that are not competent, you run into problems. There
are people who are already going around signifying interest, but we
have not reached that level now. When the party is stabilised,
everybody is allowed to aspire but the delegates will decide. We
will offer a level playing field to everyone, but I can assure you
that by the end of the day, we shall be guided by the imperative of
credibility and competence in the choice of the leaders that will
lead Nigeria from 2019. That is very important and I can assure
that that is what will happen. There will not be sentiment this
time around. Nobody will be elected based on sentiments. No! You
will be elected based on your integrity and your capacity to
perform.
How will your party deal with the problem of
contamination from the mass movement of the same old opportunistic
defectors?
It is not as if there are no credible, progressive-minded people
in other parties. Also, it does not mean that everybody that moves
into the SDP is interested in contesting elections. Some people are
only desirous of a Nigeria that everybody can be proud of. Some
people are only interested in helping to enthrone a credible
leader. So, it is not everybody that wants to conduct election. The
major concern of the majority of people is to have good government
where you can go to your house and sleep with your two eyes closed;
where you can go to your village and celebrate Christmas without
fear of being kidnapped; where your son will graduate from the
university and have a job that he can be proud of. These are what
so many people want. And how many elective positions are there to
contest compared to the volume of people moving to the party? So,
it is not an issue.
Prof. Jerry Gana was a minister and all of us know that he
performed creditably. So, it does not matter whether every
government engages him. You cannot remove the popularity from Prof.
Gana in the Nigerian politics; you cannot divorce him from the
politics of the Middle Belt. So, he is an electoral asset to any
party. He was a founding member of the PDP; the same goes for Prof.
(Tunde) Adeniran. When people like Prof. Gana and Prof. Adeniran
leave a party, the soul of that party is gone.
The National Publicity Secretary of the Social Democratic
Party, Mr. Alfa Mohammed, tells TOBI
AWORINDE that the party will form the majority in the
National Assembly before the 2019 elections
Can you
confirm that some governors and senators are set to defect to your
party?
First of all, you know there is a leadership vacuum created by
the two bigger parties – the Peoples Democratic Party and the All
Progressives Congress – as a result of bad governance. That led to
a situation where Nigerians were disillusioned and the search for
an alternative platform commenced. So, likeminded Nigerians from
the political class and the civil society organisations came
together and began the search for a new political platform that is
credible and capable of ushering in a credible government that will
implement the people’s programme. It is a fact that five governors
and 35 senators have been meeting and they have endorsed this
coming together. They are strongly behind it and it does not end
there; others will also begin to join as soon as the time permits.
It has to do with strategy. So, it is a fact that we have those
numbers that we have been meeting with for some time, and for
strategic reasons, their names will not be mentioned now.
You may recall that during the 2015 elections, a similar
coalition was what led to the enthronement of the (now ruling) APC
government. So, a precedent was set during that election. It is now
clear that the easiest way to replace a non-performing government
in Nigeria is for the opposition to come together. It is therefore
a replay of what happened in the 2015 election that is about to
take place. So, it is obvious that Nigerians are disillusioned and
the government has not actually performed. It has not fulfilled its
promises of better electricity supply, employment creation and
security. All these have become worse under this government, and
because of that, stakeholders decided to come together and perform
a similar feat that was performed in 2015. So, right now, the
vehicle has started.
So, there is that consensus of opinion by a majority of those
who want to aspire to political offices in 2019 that they are at
home with the Chief Olu Falae’s leadership.
How can the SDP survive in a political climate
dominated by the APC and the PDP?
The party (SDP), as you know, has a long history. It has won
elections in the past at governorship level and even at
presidential level. This long history has also contributed to the
factors that have led to the adoption of the SDP. The party, as it
is now, despite the fact that it is an opposition party, has a
broad base. As I speak, if you go to Delta State, the SDP has
members in the state assembly. If you go to the North-Central
states of Adamawa and Taraba, we have members in the state
assemblies. Even nearby here in the Suleja Local Government Area
(Niger State), out of the 10 councillors, the SDP has three. So,
you can see that it is not a regional party. So, all these factors
contribute in large portion to earning the SDP the endorsement of
Nigerians. I say the endorsement of Nigerians because those who sat
in Ladi Kwali hall and endorsed the SDP last week (penultimate)
Thursday as the third platform to be used to usher in a credible
and people-oriented government in 2019.
Do you enjoy the backing of former President
Olusegun Obasanjo, being the most prominent advocate of a third
force?
As far as the SDP is concerned, we have been using the words
‘third force’ all along. Even now, in some of our write-ups, our
national chairman has continued to use ‘third force’, saying we are
the third force. So, it is not because (former) General Obasanjo
mentioned in the past few weeks that the words ‘third force’ are
coming to the vocabulary of Nigerians. It has always been our
watchword since the appearance of the SDP. But all the same, I
would not say we don’t enjoy the backing of (former) President
Obasanjo, though he has not come out openly (to express support for
SDP). But I can confirm to you that at all the meetings that led to
the emergence of the SDP as the adopted third force; some of the
members of Obasanjo’s coalition were there. The National
Intervention Movement — Dr. Jahlil Tafawa-Balewa; the South-West
Coordinator of the NIM, Dr. Olu Agunloye, and so on — were there.
Then, you have Sani Garba, who is a staunch member of the
coalition; he was there. In fact, he gave the closing remarks.
In Chief Obasanjo’s organisation, members were present and I
think it won’t be wrong if I say that the organisation was
represented at the endorsement ceremony of the SDP. The
organisation has not made an open declaration but we have a lot of
them coming. Very soon, when we are stabilised, one by one, the
organisations will visit the party secretariat and make open
declarations. It is a mass movement that we have now; the SDP has
become like a mass movement in Nigeria. Since that weekend when the
adoption took place, so many people have been trooping into this
party. The traffic of new members has become so high and it has
never happened in the history of Nigeria.
In fact, yesterday (Tuesday), a chieftain of the APC in Adamawa
State, Emma Bello, defected to the SDP. He is a former governorship
aspirant and a former member of the House of Representatives.
Similarly, today (Wednesday), about seven former commissioners in
Minna (Niger State) had discussions with me, and that is what is
happening all over the country. In the next few weeks, you will see
a great surprise. You will see the influx of progressive-minded
Nigerians into the SDP; not from the political class alone but even
from civil society organisations, youths and even market women.
Are the governors and senators all from one
party?
No. For the first time, let me make it a bit clear: For the
governors, three are from the PDP and two are from the APC. That is
the most I can say. I have not mentioned this to any correspondent.
For the senators, they are mixed and, as of this morning, our
contacts in the National Assembly informed me that people have
signified their interest and they have advised on what we should do
again. By the time we finish all the arrangements, I assure you
that the SDP will become the majority in the National Assembly
before the election, and I am sure of what I am telling you. It is
the truth. People have come to discover that there is the need for
a third force. The PDP has disappointed Nigerians and Nigerians. In
the quest for a change, they went for the APC, believing that it
would be the messiah they were waiting for. Regrettably, the PDP
was like Egypt, where the Jews were enslaved. And it was like the
APC took Nigerians to the wilderness and abandoned them. So,
Nigerians now are at a crossroads, whether to go back to slavery or
remain in the wilderness.. The SDP is therefore the vehicle that
will drive Nigerians to the Promised Land, insha’Allah.
Are the defectors from the same
region?
They are from different regions. This movement is about all the
regions now. I was at Hot FM this morning. If you listened, you
would have heard different calls coming in from Sokoto, Katsina,
Calabar and so on. It is a mass movement. What is happening now can
be likened to a football. You know the best time to unite Nigerians
is during football. Another source of unity for Nigerians now would
be the SDP. Nigerians will be united in the manner they are united
during football (matches). The SDP’s quest is to drive Nigerians to
the Promised Land.
Which presidential candidate will you put forward to
challenge President Muhammadu Buhari?
We have not got to that level, but we assure you that not only
presidential aspirants, we will educate the delegates in all the
primaries. We will educate every Nigerian that is involved in
elections on the need to vote and elect credible and competent
candidates because that is the first source of problems. When you
elect people that are not competent, you run into problems. There
are people who are already going around signifying interest, but we
have not reached that level now. When the party is stabilised,
everybody is allowed to aspire but the delegates will decide. We
will offer a level playing field to everyone, but I can assure you
that by the end of the day, we shall be guided by the imperative of
credibility and competence in the choice of the leaders that will
lead Nigeria from 2019. That is very important and I can assure
that that is what will happen. There will not be sentiment this
time around. Nobody will be elected based on sentiments. No! You
will be elected based on your integrity and your capacity to
perform.
How will your party deal with the problem of
contamination from the mass movement of the same old opportunistic
defectors?
It is not as if there are no credible, progressive-minded people
in other parties. Also, it does not mean that everybody that moves
into the SDP is interested in contesting elections. Some people are
only desirous of a Nigeria that everybody can be proud of. Some
people are only interested in helping to enthrone a credible
leader. So, it is not everybody that wants to conduct election. The
major concern of the majority of people is to have good government
where you can go to your house and sleep with your two eyes closed;
where you can go to your village and celebrate Christmas without
fear of being kidnapped; where your son will graduate from the
university and have a job that he can be proud of. These are what
so many people want. And how many elective positions are there to
contest compared to the volume of people moving to the party? So,
it is not an issue.
Prof. Jerry Gana was a minister and all of us know that he
performed creditably. So, it does not matter whether every
government engages him. You cannot remove the popularity from Prof.
Gana in the Nigerian politics; you cannot divorce him from the
politics of the Middle Belt. So, he is an electoral asset to any
party. He was a founding member of the PDP; the same goes for Prof.
(Tunde) Adeniran. When people like Prof. Gana and Prof. Adeniran
leave a party, the soul of that party is gone.
Read more https://nairalaw.com/three-pdp-two-apc-govs-35-senators-set-to-join-sdp-spokesperson/