The leadership of the Social Democratic Party has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission to disregard what it describes as an attempt by expelled former National Chairman Shehu Musa Gabam to reclaim party leadership using a Federal High Court judgment, insisting that ruling cannot override an earlier Supreme Court decision that already resolved the matter.
In a statement from National Publicity Secretary Araba Rufus Aiyenigba, the SDP said its attention had been drawn to a July 9, 2026 letter from White Chambers and Co, purportedly written on Gabam’s behalf, forwarding a June 24, 2026 Federal High Court judgment from a suit brought by Salawu Adeniyi Mustapha Adeoti against INEC and three others. The party disclosed it has already appealed the ruling and that the matter is pending before the Court of Appeal, urging INEC to maintain the status quo until the appeal is finally determined, and noted that the plaintiff in the original suit was neither its Osun State governorship candidate nor a participant in its governorship primary, insisting Ajala remains the party’s duly nominated candidate.
The SDP argued the Supreme Court has consistently held that courts lack jurisdiction to decide who occupies party leadership positions such as National Chairman or National Secretary, and pointed out that the Federal High Court judgment contains no positive order directing INEC to recognise either Gabam as National Chairman or Ogbonna Okechukwu as National Secretary. According to the party, the judgment’s criticism of INEC for not recognising Gabam relied on an earlier Court of Appeal decision in Fayemi Tosin Babatunde versus INEC, a ruling the Supreme Court had already nullified on May 22, 2026, more than a month before the Federal High Court delivered its own judgment, meaning INEC had already complied with the Court of Appeal decision before it was overturned, leaving no subsisting appellate ruling for the Federal High Court to rely on. The party warned that altering its leadership based on the High Court ruling would effectively restore a judgment already voided by the Supreme Court, arguing the rule of law supersedes the rule of men and that the finality of Supreme Court decisions makes Gabam’s latest move an exercise in futility, accusing the former chairman of undermining internal democracy and insisting the party belongs to Nigerians rather than to any individual.
The SDP said it has moved beyond the leadership dispute entirely and is now focused on preparing for the 2027 general election, pointing to the successful conduct of its second National Executive Committee meeting in four months as evidence of a departure from one man rule and a return to constitutional governance within the party. It confirmed it has already completed nomination of its presidential candidate, Adewole Adebayo, and vice presidential candidate, Usman Bugaje, with their particulars uploaded to the INEC portal, while working to complete submissions for other candidates who emerged from its nationwide primaries, and said it continues strengthening its structures, expanding membership, deepening internal democracy and improving accountability as it positions itself as a credible alternative platform for 2027.
