SDP Urges INEC to Ignore Gabam’s Court Order Over Leadership Dispute

The Social Democratic Party (SDP) has asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to disregard a Federal High Court judgment being relied upon by its expelled former National Chairman, Shehu Musa Gabam, insisting that the ruling cannot supersede an earlier Supreme Court decision on the party’s leadership dispute.

The party said the apex court had already settled the legal issues surrounding the matter, adding that the judgment being cited by Gabam was based on a Court of Appeal decision that had since been nullified by the Supreme Court.

In a statement issued on Friday by its National Publicity Secretary, Araba Rufus Aiyenigba, the SDP disclosed that Gabam, through his solicitors, White Chambers & Co., had forwarded the June 24, 2026 judgment of the Federal High Court to INEC in a bid to regain recognition as the party’s National Chairman.

However, the party maintained that the judgment was already before the Court of Appeal following an appeal it filed and could not be regarded as the final position of the law.

According to the SDP, the Supreme Court has consistently ruled that courts lack the jurisdiction to determine the internal leadership of political parties, including who occupies the offices of National Chairman or National Secretary.

The party also argued that the Federal High Court judgment did not direct INEC to recognise Gabam as National Chairman or Ogbonna Okechukwu as National Secretary.

It explained that the aspect of the judgment criticising INEC for not recognising Gabam relied on the Court of Appeal decision in *Fayemi Tosin Babatunde v. INEC*, which the Supreme Court had set aside on May 22, 2026, more than a month before the Federal High Court delivered its ruling.

“The Supreme Court decision remains binding on all lower courts. Any attempt to alter the party’s leadership based on the Federal High Court judgment would amount to restoring a judgment already nullified by the apex court,” the party stated.

The SDP, therefore, urged INEC to maintain the existing leadership arrangement pending the determination of the appeal before the Court of Appeal.

The party also dismissed a suit filed by Salawu Adeniyi Mustapha Adeoti, arguing that he neither contested nor emerged as its governorship candidate in the Osun State primary election.

It maintained that Dr. Ajala remains the party’s authentic governorship candidate for the state.

The party accused Gabam of making what it described as desperate efforts to destabilise the SDP, insisting that the party “is not a private estate or inheritance.”

According to the statement, the National Executive Committee meeting held on July 9 signalled the end of what it described as years of one-man leadership and ushered in a new phase of internal democracy, accountability and constitutional order.

The SDP further disclosed that it had successfully uploaded the nomination documents of its presidential candidate, Prince Adewole Adebayo, and vice-presidential candidate, Dr. Usman Bugaje, to INEC, while the processing of documents for other candidates who emerged from its primaries across the country was ongoing.

It added that the party had moved beyond its leadership crisis and was now focused on strengthening its structures, expanding membership and preparing for the 2027 general elections.