Agunloye’s EFCC case deterred coalition from adopting SDP, says Shehu Gabam

Shehu Gabam, factional national chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), says leaders of the coalition could not adopt the party because of ongoing litigation and the potential interference of the presidency.

Speaking in an interview on TVC News on Sunday, Gabam said the party was approached by the coalition leaders in the final moments of collaboration conversations.

The said the bigwigs feared that the case against Olu Agunloye, SDP national secretary, as filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), could be used by the presidency to infiltrate the party.

“The coalition forces approached us (SDP) almost at the last minute. We were not their first option,” he said.

“Their reason is that we have an in-built problem that they don’t want to be a victim of.

“They believe that one of our national officers — Olu Agunloye — has an ongoing court case, which is very serious.

“They believe that if they adopt SDP, the presidency may use it to throw a spanner into the party and create a problem.

“For that, they approached us with caution. Despite that, we engaged them and we told them that whatever we are going to do must be in tandem with the SDP constitution to avoid litigation.

“At a point, some of them (coalition leaders) believed that we were not willing.

“They were feeling that he (Agunloye) had a pending case and that is a very serious case for a former president to write and say that there was an act of forgery and that the federal executive council did not approve what he (Agunloye) had awarded.

“The federal government is prosecuting him (Agunloye). That is their (coalition leaders) own reservation.”

Gabam insisted that he is still the legal chairman of SDP despite his recent expulsion by a faction of the party.

The coalition later adopted the African Democratic Congress (ADC) for the 2027 presidential election.

Agunloye is facing an amended seven-count charge bordering on disobedience to presidential directives, gratification, and forgery before Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie.

According to the EFCC, the former minister, on May 22, 2003, allegedly disobeyed a directive purportedly issued at the federal executive council (FEC) meeting of May 21, 2003, by approving a contract with Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited (SPTCL) for the construction of the 3,960 MW Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Station.

The anti-graft agency further alleged that Agunloye received N5.2 million gratification from SPTCL and its promoter, Leno Adesanya, through one Jide Abiodun Sotinrin.