By Kolawole Ojebisi
The Social Democratic Party National Working Committee has suspended its national chairman and two others over allegations financial misconduct
The spokesperson of the party, Arabia Rufus Aiyenigba, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday.
According to the statement, also suspended are the National Auditor of the party, Nze Nnadi Clarkson and Uchechukwu Chukwuma, National Youth Leader of the party.
The statement stressed that the suspension takes effect immediately.
“In exercise of its exclusive powers as guaranteed in Article 19.1, 19.3(i), and 19.5 of the Party Constitution (2022 as amended), the National Working Committee (NWC) of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) has approved the immediate suspension of the National Chairman of the Party, Alhaji Shehu Musa Gbam, along with two members of the National Working Committee (NWC), namely Nze Nnadi Clarkson, National Auditor, and Uchechukwu Chukwuma, National Youth Leader, over grave allegations of gross financial misconduct, embezzlement, misappropriation, and diversion of party funds.
“The decision followed a resolution of a meeting of the National Working Committee (NWC), where overwhelming evidence was presented linking the suspended officials to a series of unauthorised financial transactions, personal enrichment schemes, and movement of funds from the party’s accounts without necessary approvals of the NWC,” the statement reads.
The New Diplomat gathered hours before the suspension hit the public space protest erupted at the party’s National Secretariat in Abuja.
The protesters reportedly pulled down the gates of the secretariat in a bid to force entry into the building while National Working Committee was holding the meeting whose outcome was announced in the statement later issued.
Recall that SDP lost the prominence it enjoyed as a mainstream party in 1993 when the late MKO contested on the platform; the party was shunted to the fringe for years.
It started moving back to limelight following the defection of former governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufai to the platform from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The party was particularly thrust to the front burner of national conversation when speculation became rife that it’s one of the parties being considered by the coalition movement to launch its anti-Tinubu project ahead of 2027.
