2015 polls: Falae revives SDP, distances self from mega party

Chief Olu Falae, a one-time presidential candidate of the defunct Alliance for Democracy, on Tuesday debunked claims that he had formed a mega party comprising 15 parties ahead of the 2015 polls.
Falae told the News Agency of Nigeria that rather, he had decided to pitch his tent with the just-revived Social Democratic Party.
NAN reports that Falae spoke against backdrop of reports that he had on April 15 led 15 opposition parties in alliance talks in a bid to remain relevant in the polity.
The opposition parties had at a meeting in Abuja constituted a three-man committee, with members drawn from the Action Alliance, United Democratic Party and the National Conscience Party.
Falae said: “Fiteen political parties on their own came together, came to me and approached me to lead them.
“I told them I had tried the mega party thing four years ago and it did not work.
“But, I have since revived with others the Social Democratic Party of the late MKO Abiola, the SDP that won majority seats in the Senate, the House of Representatives and 22 states out of 30.
“That SDP is back today.”
Falae, a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, also disclosed that the ban on SDP had been lifted, adding: “It is now a registered political party since April this year.”
He assured Nigerians that the party would soon be launched in the country, saying: “We think it is part of the solutions to Nigeria’s problems.
“Nigeria needs a third force that has won before, that has been embraced across the country, that is ready to bridge all religious, sectional and regional divisions in the country.”
On calls for national conference, Falae urged the Federal Government to ensure that it convened the conference within the next 12 months.
He said: “A national conference is very important.
“If we don’t have it now, it may be impossible to hold it later.
“Why?
“The security situation is worsening.”
Falae suggested that representatives of the various ethnic nationalities should be invited to the conference and not states or their governments.
He faulted a suggestion that only state governors should be invited for the conference, adding: “Look at the election results.
“I don’t think there is a single governor in Nigeria today who was elected by up to 30 per cent of the population of his state.
“Forty per cent of the population are not voters at all.
“They are young people.
“They didn’t participate in the election but they are citizens of the state.
“The remaining 55 per cent or 60 per cent, not all of them voted.
“So no governor got up to 70 per cent votes.
“So every governor is a minority.
“He leads by minority.
“So he does not and cannot fully represent the state.
“It is only the people that can represent the state.”
Falae blamed the mass poverty in the country on what he called over-concentration of the nation’s resources at the centre which, he noted, were being wasted.