Alhaji Shehu Musa Gabam was allegedly siphoned over ₦710 million SDP funds, says Professor Sadiq Abubakar Gombe, SDP National Ch...
Alhaji Shehu Musa Gabam was allegedly siphoned over ₦710 million SDP funds, says Professor Sadiq Abubakar Gombe, SDP National Chairman, while speaking with the media on some critical national issues, including detailed explanations on the legality of his party. Abdullahi Idris was there.
Sir, why are you in Bauchi?
Professor: We are in Bauchi for the SDP 2026 Presidential Convention and preparation for the 2027 general elections.
Sir, it seems like there are still lingering crises in your party. The SDP faction of Shehu Gabam rejects the Bauchi convention as illegal, invalid, and unacceptable. What’s your take?
Professor: To set the record straight and clear, Shehu Musa Gabam is no longer a valid member of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), and I don’t actually want to join issues with him because he committed fraudulent activities concerning the running of the affairs of the party when he was acting in that capacity before we expelled him completely from the party.
I always say the faction is the creation of the media and INEC. We are talking about an institution, but unfortunately people are making reference to an individual who does not hold water in perspective. By the way, let me take you down memory lane in history. This SDP was proscribed by military decree, and we equally have a constitution guiding our operations, rules, and regulations according to the law and Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The National Working Committee (NWC) is the principal administrative organ of the party that is saddled with the responsibility of running the affairs of the party. The NWC was given exclusive power by the national convention. They have the power to fill any vacant positions in the party across all organs of the party, from the national level, state level, local government level, ward level, and unit level across the six geographical zones of Nigeria. So, the highest organ of the party that is responsible for running the day-to-day affairs of the party in respect of any decision of the party is the NWC. That’s one.
Two; Alhaji Musa Gabam is just one member out of millions of members in the institution called SDP, which is unfortunate because they are only making reference to an individual rather than the institution itself.
Before the party was registered, we paid a non-refundable fee, and it must have an existing office. It must also have two-thirds membership in 24 states and the FCT, as well as offices in two-thirds of the states of the federation and the FCT. Then it must have a constitution. These are the five basic criteria for the registration of any political party in Nigeria.
The Electoral Act is clear on the running of a political party, and INEC is an institution saddled with the responsibility of supervising and monitoring the activities of political parties.
Now, what happened? Alhaji Musa Gabam acted as chairman against the Electoral Act, the rule of law, and the guiding principles of democratic tenets. Shehu Gabam committed serious crimes against the SDP in the aspect of financial misappropriation, fraud, corruption, bribery, and subversion of the constitution of the party and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The NWC, which consists of 15 members, stumbled upon a document, which was the audited report of the party for 2023, signed by Alhaji Musa Gabam. The constitution of the party, the Electoral Act, and INEC guidelines state that any audited report of the party must be signed by the National Chairman, Financial Secretary, and National Treasurer, who are signatories to the party account. However, the Auditor and Financial Secretary did not sign that audit report.
INEC appointed an external auditor to audit the account of the party, but Alhaji Musa Gabam presented that, within the year under review, the party had only ₦32 million. When the party requested the bank statements of the accounts in Zenith Bank and UBA, it was discovered that ₦740 million entered and left the accounts, contrary to the declared ₦32 million.
As a result, the party wrote to INEC that Alhaji Shehu Musa Gabam had fraudulently siphoned over ₦710 million belonging to the party. INEC, being the body responsible for recommending sanctions where necessary, received the complaint from the NWC through a resolution calling for the prosecution of Alhaji Shehu Musa Gabam in order to set the record straight.
However, INEC did not act under the former INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu. Some people said they were from the same state, but we didn’t care about that. Unfortunately, INEC did not prosecute Alhaji Shehu Musa Gabam. Rather, INEC aided him to continue as a member of the party despite the NWC suspending him alongside three others for committing crimes against the party constitution.
After the suspension, a five-member committee was set up. The committee sat for weeks at the conference centre of the party secretariat in Abuja, including weekends, to interrogate all those suspended for committing gross financial irregularities against the SDP.
All media organisations were present when we inaugurated the disciplinary committee to investigate Alhaji Shehu Musa Gabam. In our address to the media, the committee was saddled with the responsibility of being fair and equitable in the entire investigation process concerning the fraudulent practices allegedly committed by Shehu Musa Gabam and three others.
The committee was equally charged to fear God in whatever they were doing during the investigation. Gabam and one other person refused to appear before the committee to answer questions concerning their alleged wrongdoing.
All recommendations of the committee were reviewed by the National Working Committee, and the white paper accepted all the recommendations. These processes were duly communicated to INEC and signed by all members, and the records are there.
Yakubu, the then INEC Chairman, in his arrogance, continued to support illegality by supporting Shehu Gabam as National Chairman despite clear communication introducing Professor Sadik Umar Gombe as Acting National Chairman of SDP as a result of the suspension of Alhaji Shehu Musa after he was found guilty of fraud and extortion of party funds.
In all the committee’s findings, due process, the Electoral Act, and INEC guidelines were duly followed in the suspension of Alhaji Shehu Musa Gabam.
By the way, INEC has no right to choose our leadership for us. Even the National Assembly and the courts restrain themselves from interfering in the internal affairs of any political party in Nigeria. The internal affairs of any political party are the exclusive preserve of that party. No organ of government has the right to interfere in our affairs.
In our last encounter with INEC at the Supreme Court, the court sanctioned INEC and ordered it to pay SDP ₦2 billion for illegal interference in our affairs, and the records are there at the Supreme Court.
Then where is Alhaji Shehu Musa Gabam? He is just at the comfort of his house parading himself illegally as the National Chairman of SDP. We call on the police to arrest and prosecute him accordingly.
Shehu Gabam has been expelled and is no longer a valid member of the party, and it took us nine months to hold a NEC meeting because of his fraudulent practices.
What can you say about Tinubu’s administration?
Professor: Tinubu has caused a lot of havoc for this country because hunger, poverty, and frustration have dominated Nigerians. So, we are fully ready to kick him out of the Presidential Villa in the 2027 general elections. His administration encourages corruption, nepotism, and bad governance.
Do you think SDP would offer something different?
Professor: Yes, that’s why we are committed to rescuing Nigerians from the bad administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Do you have any message of hope to citizens?
Professor: Exactly, we have good plans for good governance as far as Nigeria is concerned. So, I urge citizens to come out massively and vote for SDP presidential candidate, Prince Adewale Adebayo, in 2027 and chase Tinubu out of the presidency, by the grace of God.
No comments