By Desire Emmanuel
The presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the 2023 general election, Adewole Adebayo, has again emerged as the presidential candidate, this time around, of a faction of the party for the 2027 general election.
Adebayo was unanimously elected by delegates from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) during the elective national convention of the Sadiq Gombe-led faction of the party held at the Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Memorial Stadium in Bauchi on Saturday, May 9.
The delegates cast their votes through voice votes led by the chairman of each state in line with the provisions of the constitution of the party as well as the electoral guidelines.
In fact, Adebayo was the only presidential aspirant before the election that ushered him as the candidate of the faction of the party.
Speaking at the factional convention, chairman of the Convention Organising Committee, Usman Bugaje, said: “We welcome all of the patriotic members of our party who have to fight the threats of insecurity, the exorbitant petrol prices, the terrible roads and after all these struggles return to homes that are dark, without electricity, with hardly any food to eat and probably with youth who have finished schools for years without jobs.”
At the national convention, new national leaders of the party also emerged with Sadiq Gombe emerging as the National Chairman while Senator Ugochukwu Uba was elected as Deputy National Chairman (South) and Dr Olu Agunloye emerged as the National Secretary.
Other National Officers are: Hajiya Mariam Maggie Batubo, Treasurer, Mr Joseph Achile Abu, National Organising Secretary, Anaba Rufus Aiyenigba, National Publicity Secretary, Mr Aderemi Abimbola, Legal Adviser and Bello Ado Hussaini, Financial Secretary.
At the convention, National Secretary of the faction, Dr Olu Agunloye, said the party had resisted attempts by external forces to take over its structure.
Presenting the State of the Party address, Agunloye said the SDP had undergone major reforms over the past four years, strengthened its internal structures and reasserted its ideological foundation.
He said the party remained committed to social justice, equity and internal democracy, noting that it had reviewed its constitution in 2018 and 2022 and strengthened disciplinary mechanisms.
Agunloye added that the SDP had contested elections at all levels and won several seats, while also recording legal victories against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which affirmed its internal autonomy.
