Fulani herdsmen appear not to be through yet with one time Secretary to the Federal Government (SFG) as it used to be known, Chief Olu Falae.
Olu Falae
After abducting him from his farm at Ilado near Akure,Ondo State, last October and releasing him three days later after collecting a N5million ransom from his family,another gang suspected to be herdsmen returned to the farm last week to abduct one of his security guards.
The victim was found dead a few days later in a shallow river a short distance from the farm.
The name of the victim was unavailable yesterday but sources said he was a member of the Odua Peoples Congress (OPC) hired by Falae in the aftermath of his own abduction by the hoodlums.
The Nation gathered that a group of herdsmen had attempted to force their way into the farm last week but were repelled by the OPC guards.
They soon returned but this time reinforced with more men and succeeded in seizing one of the guards.
The matter was reported to the police and a search party was raised to look formthe victim only for his body to be found in the river.
Yesterday,the state police command invited reporters for a briefing apparently on the development but called it off at the last minute.
No reason was given for the call off but a source said it might be because the Inspector General of Police was yet to give the go ahead for the briefing.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Femi Joseph, declined to comment on the matter.
He said all questions should be directed to the Police Commissioner.
Personal Assistant (PA) to Chief Falae, Moshood Adekunle Raji, said he was not in a position to speak on the issue being criminal in nature.
But he said the police were investigating it.
The mobile telephone of Chief Falae was switched for much of yesterday.
His Oba-Ile residence, Akure was deserted last night.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has traced N3.145bn transferred to the private accounts of some members of the Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Organisation.
Olu Falae
According to detectives at the EFCC, the money emanated from the account of the Central Bank of Nigeria and was transferred to the account of a company, Joint Dimensions Limited, and then sent to various accounts.
Authorities of the anti-graft commission said out of the money, the Director of Publicity of the organisation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, received N840m.
According to the documents sighted by our correspondent, the money was deposited into Fani-Kayode’s Zenith bank account, Maitama Branch with number 1004735721 on February 19, 2015.
The detectives said a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation and National Chairman of the Social Democratic Party, Chief Olu Falae, received N100m through a company, Marreco Limited, where he is chairman. The fund was credited into the company’s United Bank for Africa Plc account number 1000627022 on March 25, 2014.
According to the documents, N320m was also paid into the bank account of the Goodluck Support Group, an association which played a major role in Jonathan’s campaign.
A former Governor of Imo State, Achike Udenwa, and a former Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Viola Onwuliri, according to the documents, got N350m in two tranches. The first tranche of N150m was paid into their joint account with Zenith bank on January 13, 2015. The second tranche of N200m was credited into their account with Diamond bank.
A source at the anti-graft agency who pleaded not to be named because he is not authorised to speak said, “The money was paid by the Central Bank of Nigeria into the account of the Ministry of External Affairs Library, from where it was moved into the account of Joint Trust Dimension Nigeria Limited.
“It was from the Joint Dimension’s account with Zenith bank that the money was shared to various individuals and organisations for purposes that are not stated.
“Fani-Kayode was the chief beneficiary of the disbursement as he allegedly received a whooping N840m, paid in three tranches into his Zenith bank, Maitama branch account with number 1004735721.
“The first tranche of payment involving N350m hit the account on February 19, 2015. Another N250m was also paid into the account on February19, 2015 while N240m was similarly credited to the account a month later; precisely, March 19, 2015.
“The balance in this account as of December 31, 2015 was N189, 402.72.”
The detectives added that the Director of Finance of the campaign organisation, Nenadi Usman, also got N36.9m through her Zenith bank account with number 1000158311 on 7, Kachia Road, Kaduna.
Presidential Campaign Coordinator of President Goodluck Jonathan in Anambra State, Chief Okey Ezenwa, who is also the brother-in-law to a former Rivers State Governor, Chief Peter Odili, also got N100m, according to the source.
He added, “But as things stand, the fact that most of the payments were made in the weeks preceding the last presidential elections leaves very little to the imagination. Yet, one knotty question that confronts the investigators is the unknown figure behind Joint Trust Dimension Nigeria Limited and the account where the money was warehoused before being wired to sundry beneficiaries. The shadowy figure could help unravel the mystery shrouding the payments, once the veil is lifted.”
However, Fani-Kayode told our correspondent on the telephone that he never received money from the CBN.
Rather, he said the monies that were spent were received from Usman who was the director of finance of the campaign organisation.
The former Minister of Aviation said he never spent government funds but was told by Usman that the monies were sourced from private donations.
He said, “I served as the director of publicity and I was told to set up an account for the directorate, which I did. I never received money from the CBN but like all the other directors, we received money from the director of finance.
“I was assured that the monies were not public funds but were sourced from private individuals. I never knowingly spent government money all through. The monies were spent specifically on the campaigns. The accounts were audited and we were commended by the President.”
All attempts to get Usman proved abortive as her phone indicated that it was switched off.
Similarly, the phone number of Falae indicated that it was switched off when our correspondent attempted to reach him for comment.
However, the former SGF had said he received money to campaign for Jonathan through a former Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees, Chief Tony Anenih
When contacted on the telephone, Udenwa told our correspondent that he never received any money as he did not even operate a Zenith bank account.
“I don’t operate a Zenith bank account, so, I don’t know what you are talking about,” he said.
National Chairman of the Social Democratic Party, Chief Olu Falae, yesterday, said he would not refund the N100 million he collected from Chief Tony Anenih, which has been alleged to have come from the former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki.
Olu Falae
Chief Falae, explained that the amount was given to him for onward delivery to his party, to assist sell ex-President Goodluck Jonathan’s second term bid, saying it was not paid through the office of the former NSA.
To this end, he has asked the government to hold Anenih, former Board of Trustees of the PDP, the source of the money rather than either himself or his party.
Speaking at a press conference, in Abuja, through the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Dr. Abdul Ahmed Isaiq, Falae insisted that his party would not return any money to the government coffers, since the money it got was neither from Col. Dasuki nor Office of the National Security Adviser.
He explained that the money was as a result of electoral alliance his party entered with the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party, to deliver the then President Goodluck Jonathan in his re-election quest.
He said those who were returning money to the government were those who got money directly from the Office of the former NSA, saying he cannot be part, since he did not get the money from Dasuki or the office he was occupying.
“In terms of refund of money, I want to say here that those people who are refunding money are those who got their money directly from the arms deal fund.
“Our fund did not come from the arms deal, our fund came from an electoral alliance with the PDP and we knew that the PDP had a fund raising committee that gathered billions of naira and PDP had been in government for 16 years.
“ So, with that, we knew that the PDP had the capacity to fund the alliance that was formed with them by the SDP, he explained.
“You don’t postulate what you don’t have on the ground, you can’t build on a non foundation.
“We, as a political party knew that the PDP was a capable hand in the electoral alliance which we entered with them. And we equally knew that the PDP had a fund raising, where it generated over N20 billion down.
“So, whether the money came from Col. Sambo Dasuki or his office, is what we don’t know and it is left for them to ask Chief Tony Anenih to explain, “he added.
He emphasized:” “We knew that the PDP had been ruling Nigeria for 16 years. So, this was the basis of our electoral alliance with them.
“We can’t refund any money to anybody because the money we got as a party came because of the alliance we had with the PDP and we have the agreement note from this alliance.
“If it is possible that the money Chief Anenih gave us was from the arms deal, it is left for them to ask Chief Anenih to clarify. As far as we knew, we did not have any dealing with Dasuki.
“ Our office did not ever have anything to do with the office or person of the National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki. “
Dr Abdul explained that prior to the 2015 presidential election, the SDP was approached by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP through its BOT chairman, Chief Tony Anenih, for electoral alliance for the re-election bid of the former President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan.
He said Chief Olu Falae, being the national chairman of SDP, summoned the National Executive Committee, NEC of SDP to a well-attended meeting to consider the PDP’s proposal of electoral alliance for the re-election bid of the former President, Goodluck Jonathan, since SDP did not field a presidential candidate of its own, saying the money that the SDP was given, which he noted, was being alleged to have come from the arms deal fund, was as a result of the alliance.
He, however, said, his party was in full support of the ongoing fight against corruption, saying anyone found wanting should be prosecuted according to the laws of the land.
“If you look at the cardinal principles of the Social Democratic Party, one of the basic ones is that of zero tolerance to corruption. So, anywhere there is fight against corruption, SDP is in support, once it is done according to the ambit of the law.
“ In terms of the misappropriation of arms deal fund, as a party, I want to say that anybody who violates the law should face the consequences, “he added.
All politicians who shared in the allegedly diverted $2.1billion arms cash must return what they got or face trial, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has said.
A former Military Administrator of Kaduna State, Gen. Lawal Jafaru Isa, has refunded 60 per cent of the money he allegedly collected from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), The Nation learnt yesterday.
Also yesterday, it was gathered that Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Publicity Secretary Chief Olisa Metuh had admitted the transfer of N400million into a company in which he has substantial interest.
According to sources, EFCC decided on refund of cash after retrieving some of the memoranda which the embattled former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd.), wrote to President Goodluck Jonathan to request for funds.
EFCC
A top EFCC source said none of the memos seen so far indicated that the funds would be used for political purposes, party funding and the 2015 general election.
Based on the vetting of the memos and disbursement of money to PDP chieftains and other highly-placed Nigerians, the EFCC has drawn the battle line of either “you make a refund or face trial”.
Some of the beneficiaries of the cash include former governors Peter Odili (N100m); Rashidi Ladoja(N100m), Attahiru Bafarawa(N100m), Mahmud Aliyu Shinkafi (N100m), and Jim Nwobodo(N500m).
Others are: Chief Tony Anenih(N260m); ex-PDP National Chairman Ahmadu Ali(N100m); Chief Bode George (N100m/ $30,000), Yerima Abdullahi (N100m); Chief Olu Falae (N100m); Tanko Yakassai (N63m); Gen. Bello Sarkin Yaki(N200m); Raymond Dokpesi, Iyorchia Ayu’s company(N345m); BAM Properties(N300m); Dalhatu Investment Limited(N1.5b); ex-PDP National Chairman Mohammed Bello Haliru, Abba Mohammed, Sagir Attahiru, serving and former members of the House of Representatives(over N600 million); former Chairman of the House of Representatives on Security and Intelligence, Bello Matawalle(N300m); ACACIA Holdings(N600m); Bashir Yuguda (N1,950,000) and many companies.
Based on the vetting, the EFCC is insisting that all those implicated so far must refund the “illegal disbursement” of cash to them or face trial.
A top EFCC source said: “We have conducted a thorough investigation and we have retrieved some of the memos sent to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan by the former National Security Adviser; none of them indicated that the cash should be for political purposes.
“There was never a memo for cash advance for political matters like campaign or election.
“We have also traced some of these funds directly to the accounts of these bigwigs or their proxy companies.
“Having gone far, we are asking them to return these funds or else, we will go after them any moment from now. I think they should respect themselves and make urgent refund.
“In the alternative, we will arrest them and arraign them in court to defend such strange allocations.
“We will retrieve every kobo given out from ONSA. It is insufficient to say somebody gave me this money. Once we trace undeserved public funds into your account or phony and proxy companies, we will ask for refund.”
Regarding the interrogation of Gen. Isa, the source added: “He admitted collecting money from ONSA and he has refunded 60 per cent of the sum credited to him. I think it should be about N100 million.
“Isa is the only person who has so far refunded money among the political figures who collected funds from ONSA. We have granted him bail to allow him time to source for the balance.”
On the detention of the National Publicity Secretary of PDP, the source said: “So far, Metuh has admitted the transfer of N400 million by ONSA into a company in which he has substantial interest.
“It is left to him to justify why he deserved such benefit from arms cash. We are still questioning him on other remittances into the company’s account. We are also demanding how he will refund the cash.
“Contrary to the noise outside, we did our homework very well. Anybody we bring to the EFCC this time around, we used to make sure that we have established a case against him.
“So, we don’t invite or arrest on frivolous basis. We do thorough investigation this time around.”
FORMER Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Chief Olu Falae yesterday revisited his recent abduction by gunmen and said his ordeal remains a blessing until the Yoruba are liberated from Fulani herdsmen’s attacks.
He told a delegation of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), led by Otunba Gani Adams, at his Akure residence that contrary to claims by the Department of State Services (DSS) that the abductors were mere criminals looking for money, they were determined to kill him.
“They were not after money alone; they wanted to eliminate me by shooting my car, thinking I was inside the car,” he said.
He added, “They later walked into my office with their sharp knives and cutlasses and started attacking me before taking me into the bush. We trekked from Akure to Owo, following bush paths and swampy areas on my bare legs till we got to an area close to Ifon in Ose local government.”
Akure—Six of the suspected Fulani herdsmen, who kidnapped the former Secretary to the Federal Government Nigeria and Finance Minister. Chief Olu Falae, have been arrested and an unspecified amount of the ransom recovered from one of them.
Olu Falae
Vanguard gathered that the six abductors, were apprehended at separate locations in Niger, Ondo and Ekiti states, by a team of Special Intelligence Squad, deployed to Ondo State by the Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase.
The suspects, who were said to be of northern extraction, were picked when the operatives, following an intelligence report, combed several locations in Ondo, Ekiti and Niger States.
It was further gathered that one of the suspects was still in possession of his share of the ransom when he was apprehended.
Although the Ondo State police Command was yet to confirm nor deny the arrest but competent family source confirmed the arrest.
Three of the abductors were apprehended in Niger State. Sources said seven others are still on the run.
Reports have it that the suspects, who will soon be paraded are being detained at the Special Anti Robbery Squad, SARS, in Akure, the state capital.
Four of the suspects were reportedly arrested last week Sunday, while the other two were picked up during the week.
Vanguard learnt that the suspects have made confessional statement.
Speaking with newsmen, Police spokesman, Femi Joseph was not categorical about the arrest of the suspects.
He said; ‘’The kidnap of Chief Falae was a national issue. It has been taken over by the Inspector General of Police. All the issue that has to do with Chief Falae is being handled by the IGP himself.
“I am sure that IGP will brief newsmen today on the development as regards the kidnap of Chief Falae.’’
A visit to the state police command showed that the security in the SARS had been upped.
The former Finance Minister was abducted by gun-wielding Fulani herdsmen in his farm located at Ilado village in Akure North area of the state.
He was released after 72 hours in captivity and payment of N5 million ransom to the kidnappers.
The politician’s kidnap had generated a lot of controversies across the country.
Various Yoruba groups have condemned the activities of the herdsmen in the South west.
Afenifere, a Pan-Yoruba Socio Political group at an emergency meeting a week ago called for the stoppage of cattle rearing activities in South West states.
Spokesman of the group, Yinka Odumakin said that their activities should be stopped in entire Yorubaland.
A Communique read by Odumakin said “We demand that nomadic cattle rearing should be stopped in ever y state of Yoruba land.
According to him “We are not unmindful of some silences, but the voices of those who spoke for the solidarity with boldness with which they have spoken out on this barbarity.
Also, at the weekend Yoruba leaders gathered for a summit in Ibadan threatening secession if the herdsmen menace was not addressed.
Fulani herdsmen have reportedly invaded the farmland belonging to the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Chief Olu Falae.
Olu Falae
They allegedly destroyed his crops at Ilado in Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State.
The farm manager, Bruno Akhigbodemen, who conducted reporters round the farmland, said over one kilometre plantation of maize was destroyed during the invasion last Sunday.
Akhigbodemen said the herdsmen arrived at 2am.
He said the workers’ efforts to prevent the destruction of the farmland were rebuffed as they were threatened by the herdsmen.
The farm manager said the former Finance minister reported the latest destruction to the police.
Some detectives from the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) were immediately deployed to the farm on Monday.
They reportedly combed neighbouring villages for the suspects but were unable to make any arrest.
It was gathered that the police have invited leaders of the herdsmen, who stood as sureties for those who were arrested and released during the last invasion when over N500, 000 worth of farm products were destroyed.
Akhigbodemen described the latest destruction as devastating. He appealed to the government and the security operatives to act decisively on the matter.
Falae could not be reached for comments.
Police spokesman Olufemi Joseph said he had not been adequately briefed by the Divisional Police Officer (DPO).
AKURE—AFTER four days in the kidnappers den, the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Chief Oluyemisi Falae who was yesterday escorted back home by security operatives said he slept on the floor for four days and trekked several kilometers to get to the hideout of his abductors.
Olu Falae
Falae said this while narrating his ordeal in the hands of his abductors to the state governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko who visited him after he was excorted home by the Inspector General of Police, IGP, Solomon Arase at about 4.14pm in a black Police SUV, marked NPF 03-23.
The IGP rode in another Police SUV with number plate NPF 8713 C.
Injury on left elbow
The former Minister who had a wound on his left elbow looked frail and spoke in hushed tones while telling the governor and his family members his experience. Falae confirmed that his abductors were the Fulani herdsmen who invaded his farm on Monday.
According to him, after he was kidnapped he was made to trek with the herdsmen from his farm located at Ilado in Akure North council area of the state to Owo, which is another council area in the state.
Falae told the governor that for the four days he was with the Fulani herdsmen he slept on bare ground and trekked several kilometers throughout the night to get to the hideout of the kidnappers.
According to him, when his family offered to pay N2 million, his abductors said: “Is it Boko Haram that your family wants to give N2 million?”
He said it was an experience that he would never forget in his entire lifetime.
Arriving home
Immediately he arrived his residence, his personal physician who was waiting gave him medication.
Vanguard gathered that the Fulani herdsmen dropped Chief Falae in front of Joyland Hotel in Owo and the security operatives later picked him up from there to Akure.
It was gathered that the family and the security operatives had to appeal to the owner of the hotel to allow the politician have a change of clothes in their room.
His Personal Assistant, Captain Moshood Raji (retd), took back the cloth he wore for four days in the kidnappers den to his residence in Akure.
The politician was accompanied to his Oba-Ile residence by the IGP, the Commissioner of Police, CP Mike Ogbodu, after he was picked up in Owo where his abductors reportedly dropped him.
A family source later informed Vanguard that their father said that any time he was exhausted, the eight herdsmen, used to back him one after the other until they got to Owo.
IGP Arase speaks
In an interview after he accompanied Falae home, IGP Arase said: “The important thing now is that Baba Falae is back home safe and sound according to the mandate given to me by the President.
“President Muhammadu Buhari gave me a mandate and that is what I have done exactly, rescuing Baba Falae and bringing him back home safe and sound.’’
He vowed that the Police will continue to battle insecurity frontally.
According to him; “We are going to diversify our strategy so that hoodlums will not overwhelm the state.
‘’We will continue to degrade, catch and bring them to book.
He said that no ransom was paid and that nobody has been arrested.
Asked about where the victim was rescued, the IGP said it was a security matter and not meant for public consumption.
Mimiko
Speaking with newsmen after meeting with Chief Falae, Ondo State governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko who arrived the residence at about 4.35pm thanked God that the politician is back safe and sound.
Mimiko said he was worried and prayed that Chief Falae should come back home safely.
He said that he was worried that the issue of kidnapping was taking a dangerous dimension in Nigeria, saying “we must tackle this in wider dimension that somebody of his pedigree was taken away while working on his farm.”
Dependable sources said that the family concluded the ransom agreement with the kidnappers on Wednesday and they were asked to pick him up in Lokoja, Kogi State.
But the kidnappers later called that he would not be released until yesterday ostensibly to beat any security tab on them.
It was after they reportedly dropped him in Owo that they told the family to pick him up in front of the hotel.
Falae’s children and newsmen
Meanwhile, the politician’s children were hostile to newsmen, ordering them out of the compound after which the gate was shut against them.
The politician’s daughters called journalists names, saying they did not need the exposure given to their father’s travail.
Vanguard gathered authoritatively that the family paid a ransom running into several millions of Naira, but the sources refused to disclose how much. Police on the other hand, however, denied ransom payment.
Political associates of the politician trooped to his residence to welcome him back.
The Primate of the Anglican Church, Most Revd. Nicholas Okoh on Wednesday, led over 180 Bishops to pray for the release of Chief Falae at their meeting which was held in Akure, the Ondo State capital.
The born-again Social Democratic Party (SDP) unveiled its programmes yesterday in Abuja, putting the blame for the country’s woes squarely on the shoulders of public officers.
Social Democratic Party Chairman, Chief Olu Falae( m) displaying the party symbol while the National Secretary, Dr. Sadiq Abubakar (2nd right); Third Republic Senator, Ebenezer Ikeyina (2-r); Party Leader, Chief Supo Sonibare (l) and the National Women Leader, Maggie Batubo watching during the public presentation of the SDP party symbol, manifesto, constitution and flag at the party headquarters, Durumi, Abuja. Photo by Abayomi Adeshida. -
SDP National Chairman, Chief Olu Falae, who publicly announced the party’s manifesto, condemned the recent spate of cross-carpeting that had seen prominent politicians defecting across party lines into new parties.
Speaking at the party’s first National Media conference, which held at its National Secretariat, Falae said the revived organisation had zero tolerance for corruption, and warned politicians with such tendencies to steer clear of the group.
Present at the presentation ceremony were: Senator Ebenezer Ikeyina; Chief Supo Shonibare (party stakeholder Chairman of Afenifere in Lagos State); Alhaji Lawal Kasim Funtua (National Financial Secretary); and Hajiya Maryam Maggie Batubo (National Women’s Leader).
Others were: Dr. Sadiq Umar Abubakar (National Secretary); Chief Eze Clarkson Nnamdi (Treasurer); Chief Kayode Duyile (Chairman Ondo State SDP); Dr. Abdul Ahmed Isiaq (Publicity Secretary) and several others from across the country.
Extolling the leadership qualities that enamoured him to the Falae-led party, Senator Ikeyina said he had been part of the party’s first coming in 1992 and a keynote personality in the fight for June 12, the 1993 presidential polls won by the then party’s flagbearer, Chief M.K.O. Abiola.
“I am here because I know Falae very well. What has happened elsewhere is that people have not been working. They want to chop, chop and chop. But we are here because we want to work,” Senator Ikeyina said.
“What are you leaving for your children –a government like this?”
He lamented the decay in virtually all sectors of the Nigerian society, including education, a fact that had forced many Nigerians to send their children abroad for schooling.
Condemning the violent nature of the insurgent group, Boko Haram, Falae said: “The barbarity which Boko Haram is perpetrating in the north-eastern zone of Nigeria is an evil which this nation must not tolerate any further. The recent mass murder of innocent school children in several schools is the last straw that broke the camel’s back. Government must mobilize all resources at its command to wipe out this evil.
“If, as it is being suggested in the media, these murders have bases in neighbouring countries to which they return after doing violence in Nigeria, government must avail itself of the right of hot pursuit, so that they can chase these criminals to their foreign outposts and destroy them. Our children are our future, we must not allow Boko Haram to wipe out that future.”
According to Falae, SDP returned to the political scene in order to bring sanity to the way politics is practised.
In his own words: “To those who have become disenchanted with politics and politicians, especially those who have retired prematurely because they could no longer tolerate the immorality and indecency going on in the polity, I say to you, you now have a chance to return to politics of principle and service where no godfathers will impose their friends, business partners or family members on the party and where internal democracy and respect for the individual prevails.
“The SDP on account of its universally acknowledged ideology of Social democracy and of its track record in Nigeria when it was the ruling party between 1990 and 1992 possesses all the credentials to lead the nation out of the prevailing fears, poverty and corruption. Our leadership is composed of tried and tested social democrats who in their various careers, either as professionals, elected public officers or career officials have distinguished themselves and demonstrated in the public domain integrity, decency, consistency patriotism and unquestioned commitment to the nation and people of Nigeria.”
The party urged Nigerian youths to seize the future in their hands, by forming cells of the party.
“To the youths, we say you are no longer powerless. Get together and form SDP clubs everywhere; in your polytechnics, colleges of education, universities, factories, markets, farms and villages. Take your future into your own hands and register yourselves and your SDP clubs with our interactive website, www.sdp.org.ng.”
Pinning the party’s ideology on social democracy, the Chairman said, SDP made its first appearance in Nigeria in 1989 and quickly became the dominant party of that time.
He recalled that the party had made commanding comfortable majorities in the chambers of the National Assembly and Houses of Assembly of the 30 states then in existence.
“Social Democracy, the political philosophy of our party is a universal philosophy which has been embraced by people oriented political parties across the world for more than a century”.
