ACN, ANPP, CPC To Form New Party In 2013
THREE
major opposition political parties - Action Congress of
Nigeria, Congress for Progressive Change and the All Nigeria Peoples
Party – may drop their identities by April 2013, when talks
on their proposed merger are expected to be completed.
The
merger of the parties is one of the strategies being canvassed by
some politicians to defeat the ruling Peoples Democratic Party which has
dominated power since the advent of the present democracy in 1999.
Analysts
are of the opinion that any genuine and honest cooperation among opposition
parties for the 2015 general elections could make the election tough for the PDP.
The
Chairman of the ANPP National Rebuilding and Interparty Contact Committee,
Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, told journalists in Abuja on Sunday, that the merger
talks between the three ACN, CPC and ANPP had reached the last stage.
Shekarau,
a former Governor of Kano State, added that the chieftains of the
three parties had decided to forget their individual ambitions to make
the fusion a success.
He
said that the leaders had realised that an alliance between the
three parties would not work and that it was better for them to merge.
The
ANPP chieftain said, “Certainly, we are going to submit our party
certificates to the Independent National Electoral Commission after our merger.
That is what a merger means. The Electoral Law is so clear on the procedure for
a merger.
“If
we decide to merge, the next thing is that we go back to our parties, call
National Executive Committee meeting, and discuss with the members, in the
presence of INEC officials. Then, you can call congress and that is all.”
He
said that both the ANPP and the ACN were not new to mergers.
Shekarau
said, “We have passed through this before when we were All Peoples Party and
then Action Congress too, before it became ACN.
“The
difference now is to pass a resolution and all this will be simultaneously done
(by the three parties) and we will inform INEC about it. When that is done,
INEC has no choice than to register your new identity.”
In
the alternative, he said the parties might decide to adopt the name of one of
the existing political parties while the remaining two would dissolve into the
adopted one.
The
other two options, according to him, are to “take a symbol, a flag and any
other identity from the parties so that every party will have a sense of
belonging or all of us will just forget our identity.”
Asked
if the parties had learnt any lesson from their failed ambition to merge in
2011, Shekarau said ‘Yes’. But added that one of the reasons was that they
started the process late.
He
said, “We started late then. In fact, the negotiation started when
all the political parties already had their presidential candidates and had
finished their congresses.
“That
was what made it difficult. Who among the candidates would
you have expected to step down?
“Arguments
came for example, that I had won the presidential primary of the ANPP. Out of
the 3,000 delegates, I had 2,500 votes or thereabout. Now, sitting down in a
room with about 10 people and I say I’m stepping down for you, it is no longer
my personal mandate.
“What
do you do with the people who stood in the rain and sun, slept in the bus, on
the roadside and overnight. And again, our party had already submitted names of
persons to INEC and when you merge, it would be beyond national election.
“What
do you do with other elections like governorship elections, where each
political party had their candidates?
“The
CPC, ACN, and ANPP all had their candidates for other elective positions. These
candidates had spent money, canvassed for votes and all that. That was why we
said let all the parties go for elections.”
The
former presidential candidate said all the political parties had agreed that
the electoral ambitions of party members must not feature during their
discussion.
“We
are all coming to the table on equal terms. Whoever has any ambition is with
his political party and not ours now. We are all talking on the same level.
None of these parties has any candidates for any elective office for now. We
can only talk about former candidates,” Shekarau said.
The
National Publicity Secretaries of the CPC and ACN, Mr. Rotimi Fashakin and
Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on Sunday confirmed what Shekarau said.
Both
Fashakin and Mohammed said their parties were committed to the merger and that
the modalities were being worked out.
They
said their plan was to form a stronger political party that would be capable of
sacking the PDP.
Fashakin
said, “Yes, we are ready to lose our identity for the sake of the bigger party
that is capable of sacking the PDP.
“My
National Chairman, Prince Tony Momoh, has said it several time that he is ready
to lose his position as well. I’m also ready for that, if that will enable us
form a party that will be big enough to confront and remove the PDP from the
central government.”
Mohammed
said, “ACN is committed to getting a single platform of all opposition
political parties that will drive the PDP out of power.”
On
whether the ACN was also ready to lose its identity, he said “All I can tell
you is that the modalities are being worked out. And we are committed to it.”
Source:
Punch
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