STATEMENT BY G19, (PROF. JERRY GANA PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN TEAM), IN
RESPONSE TO THE PRESS STATEMENT REPORTEDLY ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL
CHAIRMAN OF SDP, CHIEF OLU FALAE.
Arising from the numerous
enquiries and calls from esteemed Party supporters and concerned members
of the public from within and outside Nigeria, we are constrained to
respond to the Press Statement reportedly issued by the National
Chairman of SDP.
We have waited for any denial of the authorship
of the said statement, especially in the light of earlier directive of
the National Chairman that only Prof Tunde Adeniran is authorised to
issue further statements on the matter under reference.
Following
an FCT High Court Judgment of 14th December 2018 in favour of Prof.
Jerry Gana as the 2019 Presidential Candidate of the SDP, and in the
spirit of our avowed commitment to Party Constitution, Prof. Gana wrote
the National Chaiman on December 17th to inform him of the judgment and
sought audience on December 19th to brief the National Working Committee
(NWC) on the agenda and roadmap of his campaign thrust. The National
Chairman through the Deputy National Chairman South, Prof. Tunde
Adeniran responded on December 18, conveying his inability to be in
Abuja as requested.
On December 19, Prof Gana personally
submitted his nomination form to the Party which was received by the
Deputy National Chairman (North) Dr Abdul Isiaq and other members of the
NWC on behalf of the Party; for onward transmission to INEC in line
with the court Judgment and Order. Dr Isiaq announced at the public
occasion that the Party will obey the court order. To our surprise, we
understand that the National Chairman at the last minute instructed the
Party not to proceed with the form to INEC, which is a flagrant
disobedience to the court judgment.
After waiting for about 10
days without any information from the National Chairman on moving
forward, and being under tremendous pressure to commence campaigns in
the light of limited available time, Prof Gana wrote a second letter
dated December 27 notifying the National Chairman of his intention to
unveil his campaign vision to the Media on December 29 2018 and meet
with Stakeholders on January 5, 2019.
While expecting the
National Chairman’s response to the letter, our attention was this
afternoon drawn to a Press Statement reportedly issued by the National
Chairman, Chief Olu Falae on the subject matter of our letter, even to
the extent of threatening Party members not to attend the events.
To
say the least, we are shocked at the National Chairman’s sudden shift
of position, after making commitment to both our Candidate and other
legitimate stakeholders, that as Social Democrats he and by extension,
the Party, are obliged to obey the court judgment and orders; and would
expectedly work with the position of the court.
For the
avoidance of doubt, the reliefs granted in consequence of our case by
the FCT High Court are all DECLARATORY, which could ONLY be vitiated by a
contrary judgment of an appeal court. It speaks volumes that our
National Chairman would prefer an Appeal process, yet to commence and
determined, in total disregard to a subsisting valid judgment and order
by a court of competent jurisdiction. We have consulted with other
leaders of the Party who represent about 90% of both the National
Working Committee and National Executive Committee of the Party, and
arrived at the conclusion that the views of the National Chairman are
not in tandem with the majority.
For record purposes and ensuring
that Party members are well informed of the facts, may it be known that
up till the last time I checked before issuing this statement, Prof.
Jerry Gana has not been served of any Court of Appeal process, and as
such have not engaged any counsel to prosecute any imaginary appeal on
his behalf. How does one engage a Counsel for an appeal matter that is
not before him or is a counsel forced on him without an option of
choice?
Furthermore, we observe from the said Press Statement
that the National Chairman, who ought to be an unbiased father to all
Party members, has descended into the arena and become highly sectional
in determining to ignore a subsisting court order for an imaginary
appeal process yet to be started.
It is sad that our National
Chairman who is to teach us as Social Democrats to respect the rule of
law is now leading the way towards deliberately breaking the Law,
tendentiously for a contempt of court.
With utmost respect, I
wish to state unequivocally as the Director General of G19, that we will
rather stand with the Rule of Law, which is a cardinal element of our
campaign thrust and our great Party, the SDP.
Accordingly, the
Gana Presidential Campaign train is set to leave the station tomorrow
December 29, and will run SWIFTLY to redeem the time and arrive its
destination successfully and unhindered. Therefore, all the media
organizations and guests invited to the Media Presentation are joyfully
expected to be at Ladi Kwali Conference Centre, Sheraton Hotel and
Towers Abuja by 11.30am.
By the Grace of God, we are prepared to
win our election and help other serious candidates of the Party to win
their elections as well. We did not seek the Party tickets to become
merchants, traders and transationalists, we are too serious a community
of people to engage in such. By the grace of God, we are running the
race to win and determined to secure resounding victories for the Party.
Finally,
considering the unmitigated embarrassment and sliding fortunes of the
Party in the last three months, I wonder if it is not time for the
majority Party faithfuls who love the Party to arise and rescue her from
the tyranny of the minority who have received a mandate from outside of
the Party hierarchy to muscle and cage the elegant stallion.
We
wish our numerous supporters and Partners, as well as genuine and
patriotic party men and women, compliments of this season and prosperous
2019.
May we all embrace the SWIFT re-engineering of our nation towards Reworking Nigeria Together.
Morning will yet come on creation day.
God bless the SDP!
God bless Nigeria.
Ike Neliaku, Ph.D, fnipr, fapra
Director General G19
Friday, December 28, 2018.
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