SDP to Falae: Your Statement is Fallacious, Malicious

•Says he’s lost touch with happenings in party

Fidelis David

The national leadership of the Social Democratic Party, (SDP), yesterday, described the statement credited to a former Chairman of the party, Chief Olu Falae, that anybody claiming to be the national chairman of the party was “floating on water” as a fallacious and malicious mis-statement, capable of distorting facts or to influence pending court process.

In a statement by the National Secretary of the party, Dr. Olu Agunloye, the party said such statement was not expected from a revered leader like Falae, the former chairman of the party, and should be seen as his personal view.

Agunloye, who maintained that the statement was grossly erroneous and misleading, said the party decided to respond to claims by the former Secretary to the Federal Government for clarity and to put the record straight, saying, “this is necessary to show the public where Chief Olu Falae erred”.

The SDP secretary stated that Falae, who abruptly resigned his appointment as the national chairman of the party some seven days to the 2019 general election and publicly announced this resignation and his retirement from politics, has proceeded to mislead the public and has attempted to create a faction of SDP in Ondo State after his resignation and retirement from politics.

He, however, said the current actions of Falae to cast aspersions on SDP were completely unwarranted and strongly condemned, even as he enjoined member of the public to disregard the utterances of Falae.

Agunloye alleged that Falae, who had lost touch with happenings in the party, has been romancing then National Vice Chairman, Supo Shonibare, and his supporters while the group lured him to place unfounded personal opinion in the public domain.

“Chief Supo Shonibare, who claims that Afenifere, the socio-cultural organisation in Yorubaland, had directed him to take over the SDP is relying on charges of mismanagement against Chief Olu Falae, a Deputy Leader of Afenifere in order to justify his (Shonibare’s) case pending at a Federal High Court.

“INEC formally testified at the Federal High Court in the case brought by Chief Supo Shonibare in 2020 and 2021 that the March 2016 Convention on which Chief Falae based his own election was not covered by INEC. This could mean that Chief Falae’s own National Chairmanship was actually in the waters from March 2016 struggling to float, but perhaps drowning, until the October 2018 National Convention which came to his rescue.

“The October 2018 Convention presided over by the same Chief elected national officers particularly those newly created by the new 2018 SDP Constitution and legitimised the appointments of the other officers including that of Chief Olu Falae himself. Chief Falae presided over the ratification and adoption of the 2018 SDP Constitution of 6 October 2018 but Shonibare is now insisting that it is only the 2012 Constitution that is the valid Constitution of SDP.

“The same Chief Olu Falae, as the then National Chairman, along with Chief Supo Shonibare, as the then National Vice Chairman, went to the Federal High Court, the Appeal Court and the Supreme Court between October 2018 to April 2019, against Professor Jerry Gana, Chief Falae’s friend of over 43 years, armed with the 2018 SDP Constitution.”