The Protem National Chairman of the Social Democratic Mega Party, Prof. Pat Utomi, on Thursday said that the exit of former Vice- President Atiku Abubakar from the Mega Summit Movement will not affect the organisation in the 2011 poll.



Utomi, who spoke with journalists on party matters and other national issues at an interactive session in Lagos, said that the philosophy of the SDP was ”built on the people, not personality.”



He said, ”We have established some principles and proven that the group is made up of men willing to serve, it is now left for the electorate to decide what they want and to live with their decision.”



Utomi said that those who predicted at the inception of the Mega Party Movement that most of the real progressives in its fold would depart did not understand the philosophy which brought its conveners together.



”Any member can decide whether they are aligned or misaligned and have a right to leave; people said we were strange bed-fellows but the fundamentals will reveal those that are committed to the ideals that we set out to project, first among which is discipline.



”Political parties must be open to everyone but those who cannot align with the principles of the party as it grows will nicely be exited,‘‘ he said.



He dispelled the speculation that the mega party was factionalised, saying that contrary to reports, the South West zonal coordinator of the MSM, Chief Rasheed Shitta-Bey, remained an integral part of the new party.



Utomi listed education and health as areas deserving of priority, promising that those areas would be given attention by the SDMP.



He said, ”We have the problem of almajeris in the North, militants in the Niger Delta and social miscreants in the South-West; many of these social problems in Nigeria can be traced to those two issues.”



He outlined other issues that would engage the party‘s attention to include power, employment and infrastructure.



On electoral reforms, he said that the party was encouraged by the pronouncement of Acting President Goodluck Jonathan that the electoral laws would be passed before the 2011 general election.



He disclosed that the SDP was set to mobilise Nigerian youths, civil society groups and organised labour to actualise the passage and implementation of the Electoral Reform Bill.



Utomi confirmed the April 28 launch date for the party.



He however explained that the movement would forward its application to INEC by April 19 and wait for recognition of the SDP as a party in writing, failing which it would deem the party registered in accordance with the law.

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