SDP Presidential Candidate Hails Supreme Court Verdict, Says Ruling Ends Party’s Leadership Crisis
• Party challenges INEC over 2027 election timetable
Sunday Aborisade in Abuja
The presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Prince Adewole Adebayo, on Wednesday declared that there was “no life” in the legal challenge by Shehu Gabam to the leadership of the party, following the Supreme Court’s dismissal of his appeal.
Adebayo said the decision of the apex court had brought what he described as the prolonged leadership dispute in the opposition party to an end, clearing the way for the leadership of Prof. Abubakar Sadiq Gombe to continue steering the affairs of the SDP.
The Supreme Court, according to the party, had dismissed Gabam’s appeal against the judgment of the Court of Appeal which had set aside a Federal High Court decision recognising him as national chairman of the party.
The five-member panel, comprising Justices Adamu Jauro, Haruna Tsammani, A.A. Adumein, Jonah Adah and Joseph Oyewole, delivered the judgment on Wednesday.
In the lead judgment, Justice Jauro had held that the appeal had become irrelevant and consequently dismissed it.
Reacting to the judgment, Adebayo said the Supreme Court’s decision had effectively closed the chapter on the leadership controversy.
“Supreme Court said that there is no life in the case and dismissed the case. That is the end of Shehu Gabam. There is nothing about the SDP leadership crisis coming up again,” he said.
Adebayo further said the justices had asked the plaintiffs to withdraw the appeal and apologise, although the specific details of that aspect of the proceedings were not contained in the judgment cited in the statement.
The development follows the August judgment of the Court of Appeal in Abuja, which set aside the Federal High Court judgment recognising Gabam as SDP national chairman and declared the lower court decision null and void.
The appellate court had ruled in favour of the SDP leadership under Gombe after considering six applications arising from the leadership dispute.
The latest Supreme Court decision therefore represents another development in the prolonged legal contest over the control of the party’s national structure.
Adebayo, who has been involved in the party’s legal battle, also disclosed that the SDP had two other matters before the Supreme Court, including a case involving the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the timetable for the 2027 general election.
He explained that the party’s challenge was not primarily about the revised timetable itself but about what it described as the need to place limits on INEC’s exercise of its powers in the electoral process.
Adebayo said: “The reason we brought the case to court is not because we particularly, SDP, [are concerned] with the 2027 election modified timetable.
“It is to limit the abuse of the electoral process by INEC. INEC’s job is to be a servant of democracy and to follow the law as stated.”
He argued that the electoral commission should operate within the law and should not become an instrument capable of restricting the activities of opposition parties.
“INEC’s job was to be a servant of democracy and not to be used by the ruling party to inhibit opposition parties,” he added.
The SDP National Chairman, Prof. Gombe, also welcomed the Supreme Court decision, commending the apex court for what he described as standing firm in defence of democracy.
The dispute over the party’s leadership had generated a series of court cases and competing claims over the legitimacy of the rival factions.
In August, the Court of Appeal set aside the Federal High Court judgment in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/402/2026, which had recognised Gabam as national chairman, following an appeal by the SDP leadership under Gombe. The appellate court held that the basis of the lower court judgment was faulty.
The Supreme Court’s appellate jurisdiction covers appeals from the Court of Appeal under Section 233 of the Constitution, making its decisions final at the apex level of Nigeria’s judicial hierarchy.
With the latest dismissal, Adebayo said the party would now concentrate on its political activities and its preparations for the 2027 general election, while pursuing its separate legal challenge involving INEC’s conduct of the electoral process.