Okwe Obi, Abuja
Director of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Dr Godwin Duru, said the party has been hijacked by cabals.
Duru, a member of a break-away faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), otherwise known as Fresh PDP, said he was no longer comfortable with the state of affairs in SDP.
He had moved to SDP together with former national chairmanship aspirant, Prof. Tunde Adeniran, and former Minister of Information, Prof. Jerry Gana, among others.
Duru contested the National Organising Secretary position at the convention, but lost.
In his letter of resignation to the SDP National Chairman, Chief Olu Falae, he alleged that members of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party had turned themselves into political merchants, to manipulate the due process for undue quest for money.
He further alleged that the impunity, imposition of candidates and corruption which characterised the PDP are the current practice in the SDP.
Duru told journalists that Falae has lost control of the party, and accused a member of the party’s NWC of running the SDP like a private estate.
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Although he refused to declare for any political party, he praised the conduct of PDP presidential primary in Port Harcourt, where the party’s presidential candidate emerged.
He was, however, quick to point out that such would not have been possible if the Fresh PDP had not protested against the conduct of the December 2017 National Convention.
Duru dismissed the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by about 40 political parties to oust President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019 as unworkable.
He said the Osun rerun governorship election, where the SDP candidate, Senator Iyola Omisore, worked for the candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) against PDP candidate, Senator Ademola Adeleke, was an indication that the coalition has collapsed.
“What a serious political party would have done was to move in immediately and protect the candidate and make sure the coalition works.
“But, they didn’t do that, and what happened? Omisore abandoned the coalition and accepted to work with the APC,” Duru said.