Shehu Gabam is the National Chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP). In this interview, he speaks on the internal wrangling and competing claims to the leadership of the party and his recognition by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), among other issues, ANAYO EZUGWU reports

INEC has recognised you as the national chairman of the SDP, does that recognition automatically translate to unity within your party or not?

There’s no party that is perfect in terms of administration. Every party that is a force to be reckoned with has its own internal wrangling. Parties that have no internal wrangling have not started in terms of strengthening themselves. Crisis strengthens political parties. It defines individual behaviours or roles in determining how strong the parties can be.

It also breaks up parties, but usually, politicians fight along interest. Once the interest shifts, a lot of things shift as well. So, I believe it’s in good spirit, and the judiciary has done justice to the entire case.

The leadership dispute has not been truly resolved because the unresolved faction hasn’t disappeared. Are you confident there are no parallel loyalties still within the SDP?

I think they are inevitable in all political parties. There are people that are perpetually unsatisfied for one reason or the other. But I believe majority of us are ready to move on and face the very tight timetable that every party is facing.

No party is excluded from that challenge of meeting up with the INEC timetable. It’s about the congress; it’s about elections, about primaries within one month. So, whether anybody likes it or not, you have to deal with those facts that are available to you.

Prof. Sadiq Abubakar said there is no court order asking INEC to return you or to remove him. Do you have that court order?

If you read the judgement, you will find out that it is not correct. The judgement mentioned his name, specifically the so-called Sadiq. The judgment was set aside for lack of jurisdiction and perverse. So, whatever decision or action or letters signed by Sadiq is not avoided by implication. That’s what it is.

The law has never recognixsed him. And above that, the correspondences from INEC from the beginning of the crisis have clearly stated that he’s not known to law. And part of what INEC has furnished the court is the same.

So, the ground to which the legal department of INEC generated legal opinion was Justice Emeka Nwite’s judgement, to which the Court of Appeal set aside completely because the entire thing is about by-election.

It has nothing to do with the leadership of the party and there was no court that set aside my leadership. There was no judgement that removed me. Absolutely, no single judgement removed me, so I was still the chairman. Even though people are saying the judiciary is not doing the right thing but some time, you give them credit because the judgment was very thorough.

Is it on that basis that INEC decided to recognize you?

Absolutely, because the basis to which the legal department issued a legal opinion was on the basis of Justice Nwite;s judgement, to which it was set aside completely. They call it perverse and no jurisdiction at all. So, it’s very clear that it’s settled completely legally and we continue to deal with issues as parties. We continue to deal with conflicting interests as a party.

We continue to see how we keep the political space very active. It’s very condensed right now. A lot of issues are going on. It’s our responsibility as politicians to sometimes eschew some of this bitterness and make sure we have a stable democracy otherwise everybody will pay for it.

You’ve praised both the judiciary and INEC; are you satisfied that they’ve acted independently?

They have absolutely acted independently because they would have done a different thing. I know over the years, they respect court orders. So, it’s something that they are used to. It’s not new.

People can still generate whatever they want to generate; it is a legal decision that they have taken within the ambit of their own powers and in compliance with the judgement. There’s nothing more than that.

Beyond this victory for you, what is the real electoral strength of the SDP today in a political space dominated by larger parties?

Certainly, the crisis affected the party’s strength and capacity and that is why we are condensing the programme to ensure that we meet up with the demand and the requirement that is needed at this critical time.

But it’s not just SDP. Like I said, the Electoral Act as amended has affected all the parties, including the ruling party. Everybody must be up and doing to meet up with the entire challenges that is facing our democratic space.

So many insinuations are going on. So many emotions and sentiments are moving on. But we have to deal with this as politicians otherwise we will get disservice to the country.

Is the SDP marginal or central to that coalition meeting that took place in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital?

We have not attended any coalition. We have not authorised anybody to represent the party and there was no SDP there. We’ve been standing alone. We’ve been facing the consequences. If you don’t stand alone, it means you have no capacity to drive the system.

If you always key in, then you have issues to deal with. The SDP is going to stand on its own when it is necessary to look at the political situation and future of the country. If there’s a need for us to do alliance, we will do it. There’s no doubt about it.

You’re talking about how things are. Are you inferring that the parties are running short of time?

I’m talking about the primaries. There is a period for campaigns, which is a longer period. That is the period when parties can evaluate how far they have gone, what is their strength, what are their weaknesses, how they will adjust it, and how they will fit into the circumstances of today.

Are you saying that you’re not part of a broader coalition of the opposition parties?

Well, we were not part of it. There was no discussion that I know in terms of being part of the coalition. I don’t know the faction you’re talking about because I’ve not seen anybody. I. There was nobody that stood up and said he’s representing SDP.

But beyond whether or not the right faction or the wrong faction attended the meeting, do you agree with the concept of opposition parties coming together and uniting to fight the ruling APC?

In the first place, you must understand or appreciate what led to the situation. Politicians are responsible. The entire crises we are having are man-made issues.

The fracases we are having are man-made issues. And in power tussle, anybody who is privileged to be a president of a country and have an opportunity to run again, he will do everything within his power to run again. We have seen this several times under the military regime, under the democratically elected regime.

It is normal for those who are in authority to try to retain power, while those who are outside will struggle to take power away from them. There’s nothing abnormal that we have not witnessed. I’m a career politician. I know the process of integration and the timing of it. It is time for people to talk and ventilate and show a lot of anger.

It’s also time for people to face reality. Look, before the African Democratic Alliance (ADC), there was a discussion that led to ADC. We were part of the discussions. We offered very strong advice. Some of them that were not adhered to led to the situation that we are in today. Like I’m saying, there’s nothing new. Politicians sometimes must concede to reality because of dynamic changes.

If you don’t consider dynamics, there’s nothing you can do. You must face what you don’t want to face. If it is futuristic for the nation, it is positive for the nation, for the alliance, it will work. Provided there’s no greed, there’s no self-centeredness in the entire process, there’s no package to eliminate certain people, there’s nothing that can stop it working.

You as chairman of the SDP once adopted President Muhammadu Buhari as your presidential candidate. Are you planning to do the same thing with President Bola Tinubu?

In politics and engagements, you don’t rule anything out because you don’t know tomorrow. Circumstance of tomorrow will dictate the position of everyone.

First, I’m not a pro-establishment person. I’ve been in opposition. I’ve been progressive all my life. I’ve been part of the government as well. People who are ignorant of the processes will keep on generating ideas that never works.

Some people will leave their parties to join SDP. Also, some people will leave SDP to join another party. It happens every day. That doesn’t shift the reality that is on ground even though interests have shifted. If interest shifted, it’s the responsibility of a party to ensure that they attract people because ideology is gone. People are struggling to be relevant.

So, in the absence of clear, defined ideology, what is meant in the whole space is struggling to meet up with interest and what have you. So, there’s nothing that people are free to say as much as they want to say, but it is on record that I have played a very critical role in strengthening democracy in Nigeria.

What will you do differently from now on to ensure that the kind of crisis your party just experienced does not repeat itself?

We are reaching out. We are trying to reconcile. I’m not guaranteeing 100 per cent, no party can guarantee 100 per cent, but majority of us are on the same page.

The primary interest is to build a party, devoid of whatever flimsy interest people are talking about. That is a cardinal objective, to ensure that we are together, we’re consolidated with the forces that are ready to work, so that we can meet up with the challenges.