Former Finance Minister, Chief Olu Falae has explained why he has joined others to revive the Social Democratic Party (SDP), the platform the late Chief Moshood Abiola won the controversial June 12, 1993 elections.
He said that since many Nigerians had firsthand experience regarding the impact of the SDP during the military era, some patriotic Nigerians believe such a platform will be a better alternative to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC).
According to him, the two parties have not shown the people that they have the ability to address the nation’s problems. The former Secretary to the Government of the Federation and presidential candidate of the coalition, All Peoples Party (APP) and the Alliance for Democracy (AD) in the 1999 elections, noted that they revived the SDP to be a third force in the nation’s political environment.
Falae who spoke in Lagos over the weekend said, “What happened was that 15 political parties on their own came together and approached me to come and lead them. I told them that I tried a mega party without success in the last four years, they said no, that this time, they are serious. We have since then revived the SDP; the SDP of Abiola, the party that won the Senate, House of Reps, 22 states out of 30, that SDP is back today.”
“The ban placed on it by the military has been removed, now we are a registered political party in Nigeria since April this year. Very soon, we will be launching it. We think it is part of the solution to the Nigerian problem. The two ruling parties are in my own opinion the major problem, they need a third force that has won before, that has been embraced across Nigeria, that will continue to bridge all the division in Nigeria, be it religious, sectional or regional, that is the Social Democratic Party, it is part of the solution to our problems.”
On ways to eradicate corruption,he called on political leaders to be more responsible as they take charge of the affairs of their states and the nation.
“For you to effectively fight corruption, it is for whoever is the head, either at the local government level, the state or the federal level to be transparent, you don’t need to preach a sermon, it is left for the Ministers to know that oga no go gree, they will take their cue.”
“I was Managing Director of a bank from 1981 to 1986. I want to thank God that not a single case of fraud happened during my tenure, because I called my officers into my office and said, I retired as a permanent secretary from the Federal Civil Service. This job I am doing is a transitional job before I finally retire, so there will be zero tolerance for corruption, stealing and bribe taking here; if you take bribe I will not only get you sacked, I will send you to jail.
“Nobody took a bribe in the five years; no fraud in that bank for five years; after I left fraud came,” he said.
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