A presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, Prince Adewole Adebayo, has denied suggestions in some quarters that the Social Democratic Party (SDP) is bedevilled by factions and counter-claims of leadership.

He said this after the Imo State chapter of the SDP announced a one-day programme called an annual political conference summit, with the theme ‘Good Governance and Social Justice.’

Some of the speakers expected at the summit included former Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, Ngozi Olehi SAN, I. C. Onwukwe esq, Comrade Adamu Abubakar Moddibo, Amb. Dr Eluwa Ifeanyi Henry and Rev Dr Andy Nwokoro.

However, before the event could kick off at the Okwadike Events Centre, Vannessa Hotel, Owerri venue, many party faithful and supporters started murmuring and asking questions about why the face of the party, the leader, Adebayo, did not appear on the flyers.

The SDP National Headquarters, through Araba Rufus Aiyenigba, the National Publicity Secretary, released a statement in which it described the “SDP Political Conference Summit Scheduled to Hold in Owerri” as a gathering of renegades.

In the statement announcing the disclaimer, the party said it has dissociated from the illegal event, stressing that the entire charade of a summit was orchestrated by El-Rufai to deceive South East members of SDP into the ADC (African Democratic Congress) coalition.

The party further disclosed that its National Working Committee (NWC), on July 28, 2025, in exercise of its exclusive powers as enshrined in the SDP Constitution 2022 (as Amended), expelled and banished El-Rufai for 30 years.

“His gang of dissidents, led by Adamu Abubakar Modibbo, a former Caretaker Chairman of Gombe State, and seven dissidents, are also no longer members of the party. They are currently facing legal charges in court in relation to their illegal actions,” it noted.

When contacted, the SDP leader, Prince Adebayo, informed The Guardian that his absence from such a gathering is a testament to its hollowness, stressing that those trying to create the impression that there was a faction are failures.

“Perish the thought, there are no factions in SDP. Nasiru is full of drama, (he is) looking for who would arrest him so that he can claim martyrdom,” the SDP presidential candidate stated.

By his stance, the SDP leader affirmed the NWC’s unequivocal position “that the party is not in any way part of the ADC and has no relationship whatsoever, with their coalition agenda.

“The party remains committed to its founding ideology and manifesto and is presently strengthening its structures at the sub-national and national levels, to strongly position it for its much-expected role as the nation’s credible alternative political party for national redemption.”