The suspended national chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Shehu Gabam, has accused the opposition coalition of desperately trying to hijack the structure of his political party.

Gabam said this on Tuesday in an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme, insisting that he remains the SDP national chairman despite his suspension.

“Some members of the opposition coalition are bent on hijacking the structure of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), and they want me out of my position as the national chairman,” he said.

“The opposition coalition also gave the SDP a condition to take over the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party ahead of the 2027 election.”

Gabam alleged that he had survived previous attempts on his life and accused unnamed political actors of sponsoring internal sabotage aimed at weakening the SDP ahead of the 2027 general elections.

“I think we had this crisis before. It is now rearing its head. And some of us understand where it is coming from.

“Because this coalition and some of the people in the coalition believe that at all costs, they either get SDP or create confusion around SDP. So many forces from so many fronts see SDP as very deadly or very strong that they cannot manoeuvre over,” he said.

On allegations of financial impropriety, Gabam said he welcomed any investigation but insisted that party accounts had been duly audited and published in compliance with the law.

“INEC has audited our accounts, external auditors have audited them, and we even published in two national dailies. Everything we spent went through a process and was documented,” he said.

The SDP’s NWC on Tuesday suspended Gabam, the national auditor, Nze Nnadi Clarkson, and the national youth leader, Uchechukwu Chukwuma, over alleged financial misconduct.

A statement by the party’s national publicity secretary, Araba Rufus Aiyenigba, said the suspension followed the resolution of the NWC meeting, 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 by the NWC.

The statement read in part: “In exercise of its exclusive powers as guaranteed in Article 19.1, 19.3(i), and 19.5 of the party’s 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 Gabam, 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.”

According to the statement, the NWC’s decision to suspend the trio was to demonstrate to Nigerians that the party, generally seen as a disciplined and credible alternative political platform for national redemption, has zero tolerance for corruption and abuse of office.

“The decision to suspend the national chairman and other implicated NWC members is to allow for a thorough investigation. Our integrity as a political party must be upheld at all times,” the statement added.

It disclosed that an interim investigative panel had been constituted to audit all the party’s financial records and recommend further disciplinary or legal actions.

In the interim, the deputy national chairman, Dr. Sadiq Umar Abubakar, has been directed to assume leadership of the party, pending the outcome of the investigations.