By Jubril Bada
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More facts have emerged why the Social Democratic Party (SDP) endorsed the All Progressives Party (APC) presidential flag bearer, Muhammadu Buhari few days to the presidential polls as Chief Olu Falae quits politics.
A top big wig of the SDP, Prof. Tunde Adeniran who gave the hints during an interview with The Hope said the endorsement was based on an agreement that APC would implement some policies of his party.
Adeniran, Deputy National Chairman of the party and former Nigeria ambassador to Germany said the agreement include restructuring of the country which has been the front burner of the SDP.
Others are the need to boost the security of the country, to put an end to bloodletting, service to humanity and other core values that the party cannot compromise.
The former ambassador pointed out that other political parties had approached SDP for the endorsement of their candidates but the party decided to support the candidature of President Buhari due to the concession reached with the APC.
He said that the SDP started Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP), with the United Progressive Party but the PDP abandoned the principle and template of the coalition and thought that it could do it alone.
“The PDP did everything on its own and to even discuss with Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on how to move Nigeria forward became difficult.
“We in SDP, we are social democrats that believes in meaningful democracy to make security of the nation more tight”
He said that the endorsement would not have happened if not for the “lingering legal battle” between Donald Duke, the winner of the SDP presidential primaries and his major challenger, Prof. Jerry Gana.
This, he said led to the party’s inability to present a single candidate and explained that the party was not going into merger with the APC as the SDP has its candidates fielded for other political offices.
Earlier in an interview with journalists in Akure, the Ondo State capital, Chief Olu Falae, said he has handed over the affairs of the party to Prof. Adeniran as his successor and quit politics on account of his age.
Falae said his decision to quit politics was as a result of his attainment of 80 years in September last year.
Falae said that his retirement which should have been announced immediately after his birthday last year was not possible following the national convention of his party in order to avoid passing wrong signal to the public about the party.
He explained that as soon as the party’s convention ended the retirement could not hold as a result of “lingering legal battle” in which he was a co-defendant.