By Yekini Jimoh
The Chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Kogi State, Moses Peter Oricha, has described the meeting purportedly convened by one Ahmed Attah and attended by the party’s former governorship candidate in the 2023 election, Alhaji Muritala Yakubu Ajaka, as an effort in futility, null and void.
He said those who organised the meeting are not executives of the party in the state.
In a statement issued on Sunday in Lokoja, Oricha noted that the certified true copy (CTC) report from INEC headquarters in Abuja had invalidated the purported congress that allegedly produced Ahmed Attah and Abdulrahaman Idris (SOFADA). He explained that, with the INEC report, it is illegal for them to present themselves as executives of the party.
“For the avoidance of doubt, INEC in that report specifically stated that when its officials arrived at the venue of the said congress, nobody was found, and no list of delegates or contestants was made available to the monitoring team. The Commission therefore concluded that there was no congress capable of producing any executive committee,” Oricha stated, calling on the group to desist from “playing on the intelligence of the people.”
He reaffirmed that the party under his leadership remains the only recognised structure in the state and warned those he described as impostors to steer clear of the affairs of the party.
According to him, the recognition by the national leadership of the party of existing structures across the country had long laid to rest the issue of parallel executive committees. He asked members to disregard those parading themselves as new executives from what he called “a kangaroo congress not recognised by the party hierarchy, INEC, or the party constitution.”
“If the party’s candidate in the last governorship election in the state, Alhaji Muritala Yakubu Ajaka, truly means well for the party and the same structure that made him the candidate, then he should respect the law and the constitution of the party. He should not allow himself to be used against the same structures that gave him the ticket. The people of Kogi State and Nigerians at large are watching his true character. As the saying goes, ‘Do not bite the finger that feeds you’,” Oricha stressed.
He further alleged: “This same set of people has been romancing with ADC leadership, and pictorial evidence shows how they attended meetings with David Mark, El-Rufai and others. Who is deceiving who?”
It will be recalled that some members of the Social Democratic Party in Kogi, loyal to Muritala Yakubu Ajaka, had on Saturday dissociated themselves from the recent coalition of opposition parties, which adopted the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as their platform.
Alhaji Ahmed Attah, who addressed the gathering, said they arrived at the decision after wide consultations with party chairmen in the twenty-one local government areas and notable stakeholders, during a meeting held at the SDP secretariat in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital.
He explained that the party was focusing on developing a strategy to dislodge the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) at all levels of governance in Kogi State during the 2027 general elections.
However, Oricha dismissed the group’s claims, insisting that the conveners are not executives of the SDP. He maintained that the party under his leadership is the only one recognised by law and by the national leadership of the party, and urged genuine members in Kogi State to disregard their position.
