“SDP recognises the right of every citizen to seek redress in court as done by Prof. Gana, as well to appeal which Donald Duke has promised to exercise.”
Okwe Obi, Abuja
Following a Federal High Court judgement that declared Prof. Jerry Gana as the authentic presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), in next year’s election, as against Donald Duke, the party has since then kept mum on the matter.
SDP presidential ticket: Court sacks Duke, declares Gana winner
Gana had approach the court challenging the victory of Duke, arguing that he was not eligible to contest following the party’s constitution which zoned the slot to the North.
But in a statement, signed, by National Publicity Secretary, Alfa Muhammad, the party said that it remained neutral on the matter.
“As a party, we recognise the two eminent Nigerians as loyal party men with adequate intellectual competence to move Nigeria forward and will continue to treat them as such.
“SDP recognises the right of every citizen to seek redress in the court of law as done by Prof. Jerry Gana, as well as the right to appeal judgements which Donald Duke has also promised to exercise.
“Although, the party will continue to maintain its impartial stance on the matter, it will continue to make itself available in the court when called upon to defend the primary election and the process involved.
“We, therefore, enjoin all party faithful to go about their campaigns with the desired vigour and refrain from any conduct that may cause division in the party,” he added.
Alfa, also, maintained that irrespective of how the case would pan out “SDP will continue to have a formidable and promising candidate who needs to be delivered.”
Meanwhile, a Non-governmental Organisation, Youngstar Development Initiative, has tutored young candidates, especially those from smaller political parties on how to win the 2019 elections.
The Programme Coordinator, Young Aspirants Leadership Fellowship (YALF), a subsidiary of the foundation, Grace Idoko, who disclosed some of the tips at a workshop in Abuja, entitled, “Increasing the capacity, participation and space for youth emergence in elective positions for 2019 Nigerian general elections” said candidates should embark on crowd funding; that is, “approaching their school mates, church members and business colleagues to raise money.”
This is even as she appealed to them not to demand much money from friends in order not to turn them off. She tasked them to be reasonable while making demands on them.
“A lot of young people are interested in politics and they think interest alone will help them win.
“They should look for unconventional means to source for funds: namely crowd funding, getting money from community members, church members school mates.
“The reason why some people who adopted the strategy failed was because they ask for large sums. They should accept as little as N100 to N50.
“They should develop effective messaging and branding for different people: market women, students rural dwellers and professionals.
“Another tip is constituency mapping. They should know the population size, polling units and wards. They should have meetings with their agents before the D-day, have camera phones to help them take pictures of event as evidence,” she added.