Elder statesmen and founding chairman of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, Chief Olu Falae and former Liaison Officer to President Shehu Shagari, Alhaji Tanko Yakasai Thursday said there won’t be room for rigging in the 2023 general elections even as they urged the leadership of SDP to take its campaigns to rural areas and interface with Nigerians at the grassroots.
The duo stated this at the unveiling of a new ultra modern national secretariat of the SDP in Abuja.
“Politics is about numbers. Bring people to the party and surprise the so-called big parties because no one will rig the election.
“We have a good chance to deliver Nigeria and help Nigeria from disaster. You have the chance to deliver Nigeria, ” Falae said.
Falae, 84, while cutting the tape said when a team he was part of decided to revive the SDP some years ago, “some people thought it was going to be impossible” but they did it without litigation, he added.
“We have a good Presidential candidate in the person of Adewole Adebayo who did not only show the knowledge of law but history, anthropology, architecture and other fields.
“The party may not have a governor today, may not be in Aso rock, but the SDP is getting there, ” Falae said, adding that Nigeria is in crisis as a result of failed leadership.
“Nigeria today is in crisis. You can’t move without being kidnapped. I have been kidnapped for four days on my own farm.
“I traveled to Lagos on foot as a young man without being kidnapped. But at 77, I was kidnapped,” he said.
Falae noted though the All Progressives Congress, APC may be in government today, it is far from being an ideal political party, saying, “controlling government is not the same as being a political party. Ask the parties, what is their philosophy, they don’t know it, they don’t have a plan and that is why things are getting worse.
“SDP is the only party that can restructure and revive Nigeria. More people will leave the country if things are not put right. More doctors are already leaving.
Also speaking, elder statesman, Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, said the SDP should move to the grassroots and campaign adding that with the new electoral act 2022, election rigging would be difficult.
Yakasai who was represented by the SDP gubernatorial candidate in Adamawa State, Dr Umar Ardo, said, “The 2022 electoral act is an opportunity for the SDP to make a mark as room for rigging and vote allocation have been tackled.
“What is put in the ballot box is what will be out and announced to the public. Don’t worry about not having governors. Go and talk to the grassroots because they are tired of APC and PDP. Nigerians are after alternatives, ” Yakasai said.
On his part, Presidential candidate of the SDP, Prince Adewole Adebayo said what SDP is bringing to Nigerians is the white horse which signifies victory and prosperity.
“Because poverty is ungodly and unnatural, if we don’t fight poverty, it will produce children which is insecurity.
“We are back, 30 years later, to open this office for truth, justice and farewell to poverty. If you want to know if I will be a better President, I have chosen SDP as a platform and not as a money bag for political parties. I chose a youth banker, Yusuf Salisu Buhari as my running mate.
“SDP has a young person as the national chairman and I am telling Nigerians that the opportunity you have been looking for is here,” he said.
The event was attended by national chairman of the party, Alhaji Shehu Gabam, former Minister of Education, Professor Tunde Adeniran and ex-Minister of Sports, Solomon Dalung, among others
