—Vows to crush incumbent, exposes reckless threats

By Johnbosco Agbakwuru

ABUJA – The chairmanship candidate of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, for Abuja Municipal Area Council, AMAC, Dr. Obinna Simon, has said the forthcoming area council election in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, will be a litmus test for the 2027 general elections.

The SDP candidate said all eyes from the international community would be on the conduct of the election, as most embassies are within the area council.

Speaking to journalists in Abuja on Sunday about his readiness to confront the incumbent candidate and the candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, following the latter’s support from the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi—Dr. Simon said candidates should be assessed on their personal credibility.

He expressed optimism that he would emerge victorious in the election.

The SDP Chairmanship candidate fired a blistering salvo against the incumbent’s alleged reign of mismanagement, declaring the upcoming FCT election a critical proving ground for Nigeria’s 2027 polls.

“AMAC is my political foundation,” Simon asserted, positioning himself as the untainted outsider ready to dismantle a system bleeding over ₦100 billion in probed council funds.

Simon, a former comedian who mimicked a sitting president without a single scandal over eight grueling years under DSS scrutiny, slammed the current leadership’s alleged poor management of AMAC’s vast resources.

Vowing ironclad transparency, he pledged to publicly publish monthly federal allocations and internally generated revenue, IGR, ensuring every kobo is accounted for.

“You cannot pretend for eight years. You cannot hide who you are,” he declared, boasting a spotless record: no convictions, no jail time, no court defenses—ever.

He recounted with tears his visit to primary health centers recycling syringes and AMAC schools where pupils sit on bare floors.

He promise to declare a state of emergency on education, teacher retraining, welfare boosts, and an end to crippling strikes.

On insecurity, Simon outlined a no-nonsense plan: partnering with traditional rulers for grassroots intelligence, skill acquisition for jobless youths fueling crime, and intelligence-sharing with overstretched police—without naive promises of mass government jobs.

He was unfazed by the “Peter Obi factor” in the ADC or the incumbent’s advantages, dismissing defeatist talk.

But Simon, a former member of the All Progressives Congress, APC, reserved his fiercest fury for an explosive video circulating online, in which an APC chieftain brazenly threatens non-indigenous voters to “pack their things and leave” if they back the SDP or ADC.

“This is a civil society, not apartheid!” Simon thundered, vowing to hold the APC candidate accountable for any harm to him, his family, or supporters.

He left the APC over “injustice” after they handed the ticket to the very incumbent his allies fought in 2022.

“I’ve equipped myself to serve,” he said, adding that his eyes are on victory.