SDP Crisis Deepens as Gabam-led Faction Expels Adebayo, Dissolves NWC

The leadership crisis within the Social Democratic Party (SDP) took a new turn on Wednesday as the faction loyal to National Chairman Shehu Gabam expelled 13 key members, including the party’s sole presidential candidate, Adewole Adebayo.

At a national convention and presidential primary held in Abuja, delegates loyal to Gabam also adopted Lagos businessman Abimbola Atanda as the party’s new presidential candidate through a voice vote.

Those expelled alongside Adebayo include factional National Chairman Sadiq Gombe, National Secretary Olu Agunloye, National Publicity Secretary Rufus Aiyenigba, and nine others. The convention also dissolved the National Working Committee and elected a fresh set of national officers, retaining Gabam as National Chairman.

Addressing journalists after his swearing-in, Gabam declared that the party had overcome its internal challenges, describing the turbulence as a strengthening process. He insisted that all relevant institutions, including the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the judiciary, were aware of the irregularities that had previously plagued the party.

However, the Gombe-led faction swiftly rejected the outcome. Spokesman Rufus Aiyenigba described the convention as a nullity, arguing that Gabam had already been expelled from the party and only retained recognition by INEC due to a subsisting court order. He accused Gabam and his allies of turning the SDP into a private estate and insisted that the gathering in Abuja had no legal basis.

The latest development comes about seven months after the Gombe-led leadership expelled Gabam and his loyalists, and follows INEC’s formal recognition of Gabam’s leadership in April, which the commission noted was “by court order.”