Ahead of the 2023 general election, leadership of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) has said that the party believes in restructuring of the country’s socio-political process to allow devolution of powers to federating units.
To this end, the party insisted that anyone planing to seek election on its platform must align with its leftist ideals.
Acting national chairman of the party, Chief Supo Shonibare, made these known during a press briefing at the weekend in Abuja.
He said, “SDP as a Social Democratic platform is left of centre on the political identity spectrum. It clearly advocates the Federal model of governance. Our Party’s constitution and manifesto reflect this political leaning.
“We firmly believe in the Restructuring of Nigeria!s socio-political processes to allow for the devolution of powers to the federating units of the country in a manner as close as possible to the devolved ingredients of a federation as contained in the country!s Independence and Republican Constitutions of 1960 and 1963 respectively.”
Shonibare, however, noted that any candidate seeking to be elected on the platform of SDP must be dedicated to the party’s manifesto and make devolution of power their major political objectives.
“We also believe that our candidates – the party’s flagbearers – who will make up the legislatures and the executives must be dedicated to using the various constitutional conferences’ proposals for devolution as their major political objective in seeking political office.
“We believe in enabling the principle of inclusiveness in a rotational template for Leadership in governance. We have every reason to fear the conspiracy (of which some elements in INEC appear to be a part) by those who were never elected and came to join us in 2018, the purpose of which is to forcibly hijack our Party,” he added.
According to him, “The ultimate goal of this conspiracy is to make the SDP ineffective or ineffectual in the contest for power and render it an ally of the lacklustre ruling regime.
“We shall resist the machinations of these burgeoning usurpers. We enjoin all Nigerians to join the SDP. In this resolve we particularly enjoin the youth, the professional classes, trade associations and our beleaguered student population to enlist en masse to free our country from the shackles of rudderlessness and incompetence.”
