Opposition Parties Plan Single Situation Room for 2027 Polls

*SDP warns members against participating in APC’s rainbow colalition

*Condemns sack of ADC candidates, sack of party’s leadership

Oghenevwede Ohwovoriole in Abuja

The National Chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Prof Sadiq Gombe, has disclosed that the opposition parties would have a single situation room for the 2027 general elections, even as he foreclosed the party’s involvement in the All Progressives Congress (APC) rainbow coalition.

He stated this at the party’s strategic discussions with its Governorship Candidates Forum (GCF), at the party’s national headquarters in Abuja on Thursday.

According to Gombe, all the opposition political parties will have a single situation room to monitor the 2027 general elections.

“We have a situation whereby our agents will come together, will train together. We have common situation room so that we will be our own INEC at the polling unit. We will be our own security at the polling unit, to make sure that there must be free, fair and credible elections come 2027,” he said.

He also cautioned the party candidate against joining the APC rainbow coalition. He said, “We are not into any rainbow coalition whereby we will be candidates here and we will be professing for APC presidency.

“We have taken a stand that as much as we are not part of anything to do with any rainbow coalition, if at all any member of our party engages in that, we have told the national and the party to discipline any member that goes into any rainbow coalition.

“I want to assure you that SDP as a political party we don’t have anything to do with rainbow coalition. SDP is along with other political parties in the opposition doing everything possible to rescue our dear country in a coalition of the Nigerian people, to make sure that we have some kind of understanding and alliances whereby we make sure that we have free, fair and credible elections.

“As you are aware the sitting government, when it realizes that it lost touch with the Nigerian people based on bad governance and record in all areas of power and governance in this country, they resorted to something they call rainbow coalition.

“But they are going around trying to find how they will infiltrate some political parties to cajole their members in a so-called rainbow coalition so that they can break our ranks.”

He also stated that the SDP was not a party to those calling for the postponement of the general elections.

“We want to assure Nigerians that we are not part of any attempt whatsoever of shifting the elections as a result of whatever. We are ready. We are doing everything possible to win the election at the national level and most of the states of the federation, down to the states houses of assembly.”

On the failure of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to publish the names of his party’s candidates, he said, “We are still following the matter in court where they refused to publish the names of our candidates despite the fact that we followed all due process as enshrined in the Electoral Act, the constitution of the land and the constitution of our party, and party nomination that is exclusive to the internal affairs of the party,” he said.

He also raised issues with the high court ruling that sacked the African Democractic Congress (ADC) leadership led by David Mark and all the candidates.

Gombe said, “We condemn everything possible towards the so-called disqualification of the ADC candidate, Atiku Abubakar. This is a democracy. We want Nigerians to be allowed to freely exercise their franchise.

“We will not allow anything that will truncate our democracy because we have come a long way in this journey. And the president and the party in power are the product of democracy. We will not allow that in a democracy to have an emperor and a dictator that will lead to the collapse of our democracy.

“We are calling on the judiciary to be up and doing to play neutral; equally the security agencies and INEC as an umpire. It has to show equity, it has to show that it has all it takes to be able to usher in free, fair and credible election.”

According to him, “There are issues around register of voters. There are issues around creation of some polling units and so on. SDP condemns all those issues and we want to assure Nigerians that we are going to do everything possible along with sister political parties to resist anything that will truncate our democracy.”

In his remarks, the Chairman, SDP Governorship Candidates Forum and the Nasarawa State SDP governorship candidate, Mohammed Adumu said, “We are here to have discussions with the national working committee on some of the strategies we put in place and what we need to do to make sure that we win in the fortcoming elections in the country.

“Not only for the governors, but right from the presidential election to the house of assembly. And we have exchanged ideas based on the different experiences that we got from the different states, just to cover the gaps that we feel exist, so that we don’t give the opposition the chance to shortchange us or make any impact, because we know right from now or this period that Nigerians are tired of the ruling party and they need change. And the only alternative is SDP, because SDP cares for the masses.”

He also noted that the SDP was taking the interests of the masses at heart, so as to alleviate their living condition.