Supreme Court Verdict Confirms Our Leadership, Gombe Tells INEC To Remove Gabam From SDP Portal
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ABUJA – The National Chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Prof. Sadiq Umar Abubakar Gombe, on Friday declared that the Supreme Court judgment affirming the party’s leadership has finally put to rest the lingering crisis within the party, urging the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately remove the name of Shehu Musa Gabam from its portal.
Briefing journalists in Abuja on the outcome of the apex court judgment delivered earlier in the day, Gombe said the ruling affirmed the legitimacy of the SDP National Working Committee (NWC) under his leadership and validated the party’s Ekiti State governorship primary.
“The Supreme Court held that the Court of Appeal was wrong to have made pronouncements on the leadership of the SDP without jurisdiction. Those pronouncements pertaining to me and the SDP leadership have all been set aside,” he said.
The apex court had earlier struck out the suit challenging the SDP leadership and governorship primarily on the grounds that the plaintiffs lacked locus standi to institute the case.
Gombe explained that the Supreme Court also set aside the Court of Appeal judgment which invalidated the Ekiti governorship primary that produced Ambassador Isaac Adebayo Alabi as the party’s candidate for the June 2026 governorship election.
According to him, the court further ruled that the appellate court erred in relying on an INEC report concerning a purported parallel governorship primary involving Engineer David Oludele Bankole.
Describing the verdict as a victory for democracy and internal party processes, the SDP chairman said political parties reserve the constitutional right to manage their internal affairs without undue interference.
He commended the judiciary for what he described as courage and commitment to justice, saying the ruling had restored Nigerians’ confidence in the courts ahead of the 2027 general elections.
“With the judgments we are seeing, the judiciary is gradually restoring the confidence of Nigerians. We hope the courts will remain resolute in upholding justice, fairness and the rule of law as the country moves toward the 2027 elections,” he stated.
Gombe called on INEC to act swiftly by deleting Gabam’s name from the commission’s records, insisting that the former chairman had long ceased to be a member of the party following his expulsion by the SDP National Executive Committee (NEC).
