NIGERIA: Kogi SDP In Turmoil As Chairman Rejects Congress Outcome

By Onoja Baba, Nigeria  

Fresh crisis has erupted within the Kogi State chapter of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), as the party’s chairman Moses Oricha, denounced a state congress held on Wednesday, declaring it illegal, null, and void.

Oricha, who dismissed the organisers as “faceless,” accused them of violating due process by conducting a congress despite a pending court case on the matter.

Speaking to journalists in Lokoja on Wednesday night, he insisted that his tenure remains valid until April 2026 and described the move as an attempt to cause confusion within the party.

He commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies for refusing to recognise the congress, which allegedly produced Ahmed Atta as chairman and Abdulrahman Idris (Sofather) as secretary, alongside other party executives.

“We urge the general public, security agencies, and INEC to disregard this purported congress organised by some individuals masquerading as party members. It is laughable and criminal in a modern democratic setting.

These individuals are not only faceless, but are being sponsored by their paymasters to create chaos in our party which we built from scratch,” Oricha said.

Describing the exercise as a “caricature of a state congress,” he insisted that it would not stand the test of time since those involved lack recognition within the Kogi SDP.

Oricha revealed that he had written to INEC, as well as the Department of State Services and the Commissioner of Police, urging them to disregard the outcome of the congress.

He reaffirmed his leadership of the party, warning that external forces seeking to destabilise SDP in Kogi would not succeed.

He maintained that the congress that brought the current executive into power on April 9, 2022, remains valid under the SDP constitution, making Wednesday’s gathering null and void.