The Social Democratic Party (SDP) has said that about 18 political parties have met with its leadership to make the party one of the leading parties in a proposed mega party ahead of 2019 general elections.
The 18 political parties which has formed a coalition on the platform of Freedom and Justice Movement (FJM) believing that it will take over the government at center “and save Nigeria from the strangulating grip of poverty being experienced under the current APC government come 2019 general elections.”
In a statement made available Tuesday in Abuja, SDP National Publicity Secretary Alfa Mohammad, said the leadership of the coalition led by Dr. Owubunya Abraham, had met several times as part of efforts to actualise the plan.
According to the statement, in each of the meetings the absence of SDP had always been felt by members of the coalition, hence the unanimous decision of the group to send a special delegation to meet and discuss the proposal with the SDP leadership.
Speaking during the meeting with the SDP leaders in Abuja, Dr. Owubunya, who led the group said that the widely acknowledged integrity of the National Chairman of the SDP, Chief Olu Falae, the party’s brand name, as well as the advantage of being one of the 6 political parties that have serving elected political office holders across Nigeria make the party an irresistible one in any serious discussion that bothers on pre 2019 merger talks in the country.
Responding, SDP Deputy National Chairman, Dr. Abdul Isiaq Ahmed, who stood in for the National Chairman expressed SDP’s appreciation for the group’s recognition of the party as a party worthy of invitation to discuss a critical Nigeria project.
He told the group that SDP was already involved with PDP in similar project to the extent that MOU had been signed by the parties and talks were still going on.
“Past experiences have shown that no single party can easily defeat a ruling party in presidential elections in Nigeria, hence merger is a critical success factor in returning Nigeria to better hand come 2019”
Abdul, therefore expressed the willingness of the SDP to be part of any genuine efforts by opposition parties to unite for Nigeria. He advised that the group should convene a meeting of all the leaders of the group soonest with the view to jointly reviewing the proposal and arriving at positive conclusion without delay.
He, however, announced that SDP was ready to make its staff and Secretariat available as venue for further meetings of the group if it so desired.
