Leaders and stakeholders of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Kogi East Senatorial District have passed a vote of no confidence on the party’s National Organizing Secretary, Barr. Joseph Abu, and are demanding his immediate removal.
The position was contained in a communique issued on Friday at the end of an SDP stakeholders’ meeting held in Anyigba, Dekina Local Government Area, Kogi State.
The communique, signed on behalf of Kogi East SDP leaders by Chief John Awoji A. and Muhammad Musa, said the decision was taken by chairmen, stakeholders, women leaders, youth leaders, and members across the 9 LGAs of the senatorial district after a review of the state of the party.
The Kogi East structure accused Barr. Abu of six major infractions it said were undermining the party.
According to the communique, he has “persistently worked to legitimize an illegitimate, court-ousted faction” in Kogi State led by Mr. Achimugu Emmanuel and Mr. Moses Peters — the same persons who aligned with the Shehu Gabam leadership until a Supreme Court judgment removed them.
It also accused him of “imposition of strangers” as party executives in Kogi, adding that “despite not knowing his own Ward Chairman, he is forcing alien, double-faced, and non-contributing elements on loyal stakeholders, thereby destroying grassroots structure.”
The leaders further alleged “financial impropriety and bias,” claiming he collected money from individuals with no loyalty to the Prof. Sadiq Abubakar Gombe-led National Working Committee (NWC) and National Secretary, Dr. Olu Agunloye, and “fraudulently included their names in official lists submitted to the National Secretariat.”
The communique stated that Barr. Abu “has no voting record at home, is not recognized as a politician in Kogi East,” yet uses his office to “destroy the party structure and allocate SDP tickets to desperate opportunists” who have vowed to leave after 2027 if their demands are not met.
It contrasted this with “committed leaders like Alhaji Muritala Yakubu Ajaka.”
The stakeholders also said his actions “directly contradict the unity and rebuilding efforts” of the current NWC led by Prof. Gombe and Dr. Agunloye, and were creating “confusion, factionalization, and mistrust” between the National Secretariat and Kogi State.
They warned that by giving tickets to “political merchants” instead of loyal members, he was “mortgaging the future of SDP in Kogi East and the entire state.”
“Kogi East SDP states clearly: Barr. Joseph Abu has lost the confidence and trust of the people he is supposed to organize.
“His continued stay in office is a threat to party cohesion, discipline, and electoral success,” the communique said.
The group therefore appealed to the National Secretary, Dr. Olu Agunloye, and National Chairman, Prof. Sadiq Umar Abubakar Gombe, to “remove Barr. Joseph Abu from office immediately in the interest of peace, unity, and progress.”
It requested that he be replaced with “a responsible, God-fearing, loyal, and home-based party man from Kogi East who has stake, sacrifice, and structure on ground.”
The communique affirmed that “Kogi East remains loyal to the Prof. Sadiq Gombe/Dr. Olu Agunloye-led NWC” and would not allow “one man’s divisive politics to destroy what we have all built together.”
