Joshua Osih: going, going, gone!! ⁰

The Social Democratic Front (SDF) faced open internal dissent within its governing bodies. Stéphane Rivel Nguemalieu and Charlie Tchikanda, respectively shadow cabinet ministers for water and energy, and for social affairs, sports, and youth development, signed on January 26, 2026 a “motion calling for the resignation of the national president of the SDF for poor results and opaque party management.”

The two officials blamed Joshua Osih for what they described as a “derisory result” in the 2025 presidential election and for “multiple failures” during the campaign. They summarized their assessment: “In October 2025, our candidate-president secured only 1% of the vote, a derisory result that reflects a lack of strategy, preparation, and lessons learned from the 2018 failure.”

According to the signatories, the result confirmed the failure of a commitment Joshua Osih made in October 2023 during the party’s 10th Congress. At that time, he pledged to “build a strong, conquering SDF capable of winning the 2025 presidential election, or at least improving on the 2018 result.”

Campaign Described as “Approximate”

Stéphane Rivel Nguemalieu and Charlie Tchikanda first criticized a gap between assurances and operational reality. They recalled that the candidate-president claimed that “everything was fully ready in terms of logistics, resources, and human capacity,” but they pointed to operational failures during the campaign.

They cited the late formation of the campaign team, partial coverage of polling stations, and unfulfilled promises to polling station representatives, whom they said leaders “abandoned at the mercy of regional presidents.”

They also cited the absence of large rallies to test popular support and described a campaign director limited to an administrative role at headquarters.

The criticisms extended to political positioning. They cited a lack of solidarity with opposition parties “victims of regime abuses,” insufficient support for victims of arbitrary arrests and detentions, ambiguous messaging on the party’s opposition stance, and a narrative rejecting coalitions that they said resulted in lost votes.

Allegations of Opaque Financial Management

Beyond strategy, the signatories targeted internal management, which they described as opaque. They denounced the absence of a formal budget and administrative and financial procedures manual, as well as repeated violations of the separation between authorizing officers, cash handlers, and spending executors.

They also questioned the transparency surrounding the use of state subsidies, among other governance-related “failures.” Based on these elements, they called on Joshua Osih “to take responsibility and resign from the leadership of the party.”

Failing that, they urged the National Executive Committee (NEC) “to adopt a resolution declaring you ineligible for the 2032 election, as well as for any potential early election.” This move revived the debate over succession at the head of the SDF, which opened after the death in June 2023 of John Fru Ndi, the party’s founding president. That period already led to the exclusion and voluntary departure of several senior party figures.

Source: Sbbc