The Social Democratic Party (SDP) has congratulated Nigerians for conducting what it described as “peaceful and successful presidential and national assembly elections”. It also hailed the All Progressives Congress candidate, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu for winning “the keenly contested presidential election”.
In a statement on Thursday by its National Chairman, Alhaji Shehu Musa Gabam, the party also congratulated all the winners of the National Assembly election, which also took place last Saturday.
The SDP saluted all the presidential candidates in the “for putting themselves forward to serve the country, and for making the contest to be very competitive”. It specifically mentioned its presidential candidate, Prince Adewole Adebayo “for his very impressive outing and for running endearing issue-based campaigns”. SDP scored 80,267 votes in the contest which featured 18 candidates.
The statement reads: “The National leadership of our great party, the Social Democratic Party (SDP), heartily congratulates all Nigerians for the peaceful and successful presidential and national assembly elections that took place on Saturday, 25 February 2023, and His Excellency, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress candidate for winning the keenly contested Presidential election.
“We also salute the good showing of the runners-ups and all the presidential Candidates in the election, for putting themselves forward to serve the country, and for making the contest to be very competitive. The party celebrates our own presidential candidate, His Excellency, Prince Adewole Adebayo for his very impressive outing and for running endearing issue-based campaigns. We also congratulates our revolutionary and distinguished ambassadors in the race who won two senatorial and four House of Representatives seats for the party in Nasarawa State, and all other candidates of the party who participated in the National Assembly elections across the country, for standing tall and showing their capacities admirably.
“The 2023 presidential election turned out with the most unique outcome, considering the national spread and the same equal number of states won by the three leading candidates. Also, it’s noteworthy that it came out as having the lowest voter turn-out in the recent history of presidential elections in Nigeria, with less than a total of 25 million votes out of over 90 million registered voters nationwide! Notwithstanding the obvious challenges that were associated with the election and the concerns expressed by aggrieved stakeholders, the SDP hereby aligns with the final choice that has been made, and as freely expressed by the Nigerian people across the divides, and we stand by the outcome of the electoral process.
“We commend the INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission) under the leadership of the distinguished Prof. Yakubu Mahmud for pulling through in the face of all of odds. The election has been won and lost. Going forward, therefore, and what is right in the true interest of our country, is for all grievances to be expressed through the appropriate channels and very responsibly. Our party believes strongly in the nation’s justice system as capable of addressing the various concerns expressed, and for it to always do justice. We also note that democratic consolidation for national unity and sustainable growth and development is the imperative of the times. As such, the SDP calls on the political class and the general public to eschew violence in their actions and pronouncements, and to in practical terms and manifestly, work for peace and social order in the larger interest of our country. We call on the President-elect, in his strategic considerations, to take deliberate and practical steps in uniting the country, by pooling the human assets that abound across party lines to build a strong team that will help him to deliver on the mandate given to him, and bring the country together through a government of national unity to fix our obvious national cracks, address the failings, heal the land and fast-track the process of national reconciliation. We submit that Nigeria is the only country and heritage that we have, and we all owe it a duty to ourselves and our posterity to protect the union and promote its stability. This is wishing our beloved country well as we open a new chapter in the annals of our political history”.
