…protesters demand removal of Olu Agunloye as SDP national secretary
Few days after former Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai defected from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Social Democratic Party (SDP), crisis has hit the SDP following calls by forces loyal to El-Rufai for the SDP National Secretary, Ola Agunloye to resign.
On Wednesday, some protesters stormed the national secretariat of the Social Democratic Party in Abuja demanding the removal of Olu Agunloye as the party’s national secretary.
The protesters accused Ola Agunloye, who is a former Minister of Power and Steel under the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo, of mismanaging the party and asked him to step down while he clears his name with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The protesters held some of the placards with inscriptions of their demands. Some of the placards read: “Clear your name or resign”, “Dr. Agunloye, face your EFCC cases and stop embarrassing SDP!”, “Don’t destroy SDP! Dr. Agunloye’s EFCC case is destroying SDP! Resign now and give us a chance,” “Save SDP’s legacy! Dr. Agunloye must resign immediately! We demand change for a better future!” among other inscriptions.
The embattled SDP National Secretary, Ola Agunloye is being prosecuted by the EFCC over a $6 billion Mambilla hydropower contract that Agunloye allegedly awarded on May 22, 2003, to Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited (SPTCL) without any budgetary provision, approval, or cash backing.
The commission also accused the former minister of receiving N5.212 million from SPTCL and Leno Adesanya, who is the promoter of Sunrise Power, through one Jide Abiodun Sotinrin.
It will be recalled that the SDP National Secretary had earlier petitioned the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun over an alleged plot to force him to resign his position in the party.
A year ago, when Mallam Nasir El-Rufai held consultative meetings with SDP in Abuja, the National Secretary, Ola Agunloye was conspicuously absent.