All is not looking well in the Social Democratic Party, SDP as a group loyal to one of the Aspirants, is challenging the emergence of former governor of Cross River state; Donald Duke.
According to the group known as G19, they are calling the emergence of Duke as an aberration of Justice, fairness and equity that the party stands for.
In a World Press conference by the G19 group believed to be loyal to Prof. Jerry Gana, they queried how can both the presidential candidate and the national Chairman of the party be in the southern part of the country against the stipulation of the party’s constitution which stipulates otherwise,
“While the process was in progress, we drew the attention of some Party leaders to the fact that the presidential ticket was constitutionally zoned to the North. Therefore, aspirants from the South should have been accordingly advised. Sadly, this matter of zoning was ignored. But in fact, our position is in line with the provisions of the SDP Constitution on the principle of Rotation and Zoning of offices, contained in Section 15.3 (i & ii) (SDP Amended Constitution 2018)”.
The full statement reads;
ON MATTERS OF CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY:
CALL FOR JUSTICE, FAIRNESS, EQUITY AND THE RULE OF LAW.
TEXT OF A WORLD PRESS CONFERENCE BY THE G19, ON THE JUST CONCLUDED NATIONAL CONVENTION/PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY OF THE SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY (SDP).
ABUJA, WEDNESDAY 10TH OCTOBER, 2018.
Distinguished gentlemen of the Press, we are pleased to welcome you to this briefing, which has become necessary due to mounting pressure from G19 members and supporters within and outside the country, as well as the general public seeking our position on the outcome of the just concluded National Convention of the Social Democratic Party (SDP). We would have preferred to wait before this briefing, but for the wise counsel from some of you and very concerned Nigerians. This is added to the inability of our Party leadership to take prompt decisions on the weighty matters raised in our two letters of appeal dated 7th and 8th October, 2018, respectively, which are already before the Party.
2. Ladies and Gentlemen, you would recall that the SDP held its National Convention on 6th to 7th October, 2018 in Abuja. The Convention marked the conclusions of the process the Party put in place to select its presidential flag bearer for the 2019 presidential election. As you may be aware, five aspirants contested for the Party’s presidential ticket, and were returned with the following votes by the Electoral Panel:
i. Donald Duke – 812 votes
ii. Prof. Jerry Gana – 611 Votes
iii. Mr. John Dara – 104 Votes
iv. Prof. Amb. Iyorwuese Hagher – 72 Votes
v. Amb. Felix Osakwe – 10 Votes
On the strength of the above, Mr. Donald Duke from Cross River State (Southern Nigeria) was returned by the SDP Electoral Panel as the presidential candidate of our Party.
3. While the process was in progress, we drew the attention of some Party leaders to the fact that the presidential ticket was constitutionally zoned to the North. Therefore, aspirants from the South should have been accordingly advised. Sadly, this matter of zoning was ignored. But in fact, our position is in line with the provisions of the SDP Constitution on the principle of Rotation and Zoning of offices, contained in Section 15.3 (i & ii) (SDP Amended Constitution 2018), namely that:
15.3 Rotation and Zoning of Offices
i. The Party shall adhere to the principle of Zoning and Rotation of Political Offices based on the principles of inclusiveness, justice, equity and fairness to all.
ii The Party therefore shall observe the following:
a. The office of the President and National Chairman of the Party shall rotate between the South and North and amongst the six (6 geopolitical zones…
4. Accordingly, since the National Chairman of our Party, Chief Olu Falae GCON, CFR, is from the South, it follows logically that in accordance with the tenets of our party, the letter and spirit of our Constitution; the contest for the Presidential candidacy of the Party ought to have been restricted to aspirants from the North. So our advise which was ignored, was not merely wishful thinking, but a weighty constitutional matter.
5. Indeed, the National Chairman of our Party, Chief Olu Falae, CGON, CFR had earlier stated in a press interview published in the Punch Newspaper of May 13th, 2018 titled, “SDP will pick its presidential candidate from North – Falae”. In answering a question from a Punch reporter, “Is the SDP picking its presidential candidate from the northern part of the country like some other parties?” Chief Falae had responded in the affirmative, “Yes, we are picking our candidate from the North – it may be from the North-East, North-West or North-Central.”
6. On the strength of the above Constitutional provision of the Party and the very specific assurances of our National Chairman, The G19 Team was influenced and encouraged to field a presidential candidate, in the person of Professor Jerry Gana, CON, Ph.D, DD. It is important to state that the National Chairman’s conclusive statement above, on the issue of zoning partly compelled the distinguished Professor Femi Olufunmilade, Ph.D from the South to drop his earlier desire to contest for the Presidency of Nigeria on the platform of the SDP.
7. Arising from the above, we expected the Party to do the right thing by disqualifying the affected Southern aspirants from contesting at the presidential primary.
8. We find it most appropriate to stress that the Supreme Court, in a plethora of cases, has ruled and asserted the fact that political parties must obey their own constitutions and guidelines, and where necessary (as provided by law) the Courts will intervene and wield the big stick to prevent arbitrariness. We wish to cite below for ease of reference, some Supreme Court rulings on this matter:
· It is trite that where a statute provides for a means of doing a thing, no other means or manner shall be permitted. The failure to comply with these provisions of the constitution makes the entire exercise null and void. See Nwabueze v Okoye (1988) 4 NWLR (pt 91) 664, Ezeobi v Nzeka (1989) 1 NWLR (pt 98) 478.
· This Court has decided in quite a number of cases that political parties must obey their own constitutions as the Court will not allow them to act arbitrarily or as they like. See Uzodinma v Izunaso (No2) (2011) 17 NWLR (pt 1275) 30 at 60, Ugwu v Ararume (2007) 12 NWLR (pt 1048) 326 at 914 paras. D – E; CPC v Lado (2011) 14 NWLR [pt 1266) 40 at 91 – 92 paras, D -G.
· While it is true that the Courts will not interfere in the internal affairs of a political party nor its choice of candidate, Section 87(9) of the Electoral Act ensures that in making their choice of candidate for elective office political parties do not stray beyond the confines of the Electoral Act or their own electoral guidelines (in this case the constitution of the SDP). The section seeks to curb the impunity with which political parties hitherto acted without regard to the democratic norms they profess to practice.
· The failure of internal democracy within our political parties’ right from the grassroots level eventually leads to instability in the entire political system. The failure of internal democracy is one of the reasons why the Courts’ dockets are congested with pre-election disputes. In Ugwu Vs Ararume (2007) 12 NWLR (pt. 1048) 376 @ 514 D-E, this Court per Mahmud Mohammed, JSC (as he then was) admonished: “My lords, if we want to instill sanity into our human affairs, if we want to entrench unpolluted democracy in our body polity, the naked truth must permeate through the blood, nerve and brain of each and every one of us. Although credit may not always have its rightful place in politics, we should try to blend the two so as to attain a fair, just and egalitarian society where no one is oppressed. Let us call a spade a spade!” See also: Uzodinma Vs Izunaso (No.2) (2011) 17 NWLR (Pt. 1275) 30 @ 60 C-E: C.P.C. Vs Lado (2011) 14 NWLR (Pt. 1266) 40 @ 91-92 D-G.” Per KEKERE-EKUN, J.S.C. (Pp. 50-52, Paras. C-A) (…read in context). Any contravention of the Act and Constitution of the Party in this regard would be regarded as a ploy to disregard the principle of due process of law enshrined therein.
9. In the light of the above, it is patently clear that in accordance with the SDP Constitution, Mr. Donald Duke did not meet the condition precedent for participating in the presidential primary of the Party in the first place. This singular constitutional provision clearly disqualifies Mr. Duke from the contest. Accordingly, our candidate, Professor Jerry Gana, being the candidate from the North that scored the highest lawful votes, should be returned as the candidate of the Party for the 2019 presidential election.
10. It would be inconceivable for the SDP, a Party founded on the principle of the rule of law, equity, fairness and justice, to be part of any process, whatsoever, that stands against its own Constitution, Core values and Principles. We appeal to the Party to live up to its name and identity as a social democratic party, and can never be part of a lawless society. These were the very attributes of our convictions that motivated us and our supporters nationwide to fuse into the SDP in March, 2018.
11. In concluding this briefing, permit us to reiterate that, as people of honour, we expect the leadership of our great Party, to do the needful by ensuring a firm, just, fair and timely resolution of this matter, in line with the clear provisions of our Constitution, which will go a long way to reassure many Nigerians that we are indeed serious about our core-values and directive principles of:
· Justice, equity and fairness;
· Truth, integrity and honour;
· Transparency, accountability and zero-tolerance for corruption;
· Peace, security and solidarity, within the rule of law.
12. A prompt resolution of this matter will enable us to quickly reengage the momentum on the crucial and urgent matter of nationwide mobilisation for the fast approaching 2019 general elections. We wish to use this opportunity to thank all our supporters and well wishers, and to urge them to remain firm, calm and focused, believing that God, Himself a just God, shall give us justice.
We thank you for your kind attention.
Ike Neliaku, Ph.D, fnipr, fapra,
Director General, G19
