This is as the party said only a holistic restructuring of the country could solve the numerous challenges bedeviling the country.
The SDP National Chairman, Shehu Gabam, stated these at a reception organised to celebrate the National Honours Awards conferred on two members of the party, Olorogun Keneth Gbagi and Prof. Wale Suleiman, by President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja.
While Gbagi, who is the Delta State governorship candidate of the party was awarded with Order of the Niger (OON), Suleiman, the party’s Kwara South Senatorial candidate was honoured with the Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) award.
Gabam, who noted that elections were not about crowd renting, said the party would rather give priority to major issues affecting the country, such like insecurity, education, and collapse of the health sector among others.
He assured Nigerians that the party would soon make public, a complete list of members of its Campaign Council, saying that the SDP wouldn’t want to be a copycat.
He said, “Elections are about issues not about crowd renting. It is about dealing with major issues that affecting Nigeria like the issue of insecurity, education, assistance, and collapse of the health sector. As a party, we are strategic in our operations. We will be dealing with strategic issues that affect every one of us. We will unveil our campaign council very soon.
“We are going to start from Zonal Town Hall meetings where everybody will have access to our candidate and ask him questions. The party will also respond to virtually every issue.
“We don’t want to be a copycat. We have our own timetable, programme and we will unveil them at the right time. Nigeria is in a very delicate situation, so it not about rush hour but about doing the right thing and putting the right thing in place.”
Speaking on restructuring, the SDP Chairman maintained that the structure and composition of the country has changed compared to what was obtained in the past.
“During independence, the population of Nigeria was about 30 to 35 million. Today, you are dealing with over 200 million Nigerians; you must restructure. We must amend the Land Use Act to allow state to generate revenue and take care of their bills in the state and give some to the federal. So, we must restructure, it is inevitable. There’s no two ways about it. If we want to move forward, deal with our population, we must do that,” Gabam said.
While applauding the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), for adopting the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), he expressed confidence in the ability of the commission to deliver free, fair and credible elections in 2023.
He described the BVAS as classic and unique, noting that the innovation would ensure a reduction in voter apathy.
He continued: “Why we are having voter apathy is that some people feel that their vote is not going to count. With the BVAS system where there will be finger or visual capture, things will change for good. INEC can also go further and announced the number of accreditation in each polling unit to all people that are around that particular polling unit. This is will give them more credibility.
“INEC has done marvelously well. Never in the history of INEC, we have this kind of transformation. However, beyond that, INEC are not the one to deploy security agencies to ensure there’s a conducive atmosphere for the election to take place, that is within the purview of the president and Commander-in-Chief.
“He controls the security apparatus and he is the one to ensure that there is law and order in virtually everywhere. So, INEC is interdependent in terms of deployment of security, but in terms of supply of the needed material for the election, yes, INEC is independent.”
Speaking further, Gbagi commended President Buhari for the award, saying it was a call for him to do more for humanity.
He said: “The greatest joy is that when a country comes together to recognise your efforts, it gives you a lot of gratification, and then, that’s the joy having been honoured for what one has done. For instance, I created 13 universities in Nigeria, all the students who are youth today have placement in a university which goes a long way to cushion the effect of access to school.”
