11th February, 2013
Opposition parties in the country fuse into one party, All Progressive Congress, with which they hope to break the dominance of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party. But the merger work this time?
The country’s opposition movement was energised last Tuesday, as their dream of challenging the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, gave the first hints of taking shape. At a meeting in Lagos, 10 governors, representing four opposition parties– Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN; Congress for Progressive Change, CPC; All Nigeria People’s Party, ANPP; and All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA– fine-tuned plans for a proposed merger. Arising from the meeting held at the Lagos House, Marina, the governors unanimously threw their weight behind the planned merger by their parties.
In attendance were Governors Babatunde Fashola (Lagos), Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun), Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo), Rauf Aregbesola (Osun), Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Kashim Shettima (Borno), Rochas Okorocha (Imo), Umaru Al-Makura ( Nasarawa), Abdul-azeez Yari (Zamfara) and Ibrahim Gaidam (Yobe), who was represented by Senator Degere Alkali.
The communique issued at the end of the meeting was read by Shettima.
“As governors, we fully endorse the merger initiatives already commenced by our various political parties and we will put our weight behind these efforts. Nigeria is greater than all of us and we have a duty to make it work for our people and the future of our children yet unborn,” the communique read.
Okorocha said the merger is a necessity if the country’s democracy must be saved. He warned that the prospect of the country becoming a one-party state will be injurious to its democracy. “Therefore, I personally endorse this movement and this new merger; at least to rescue Nigeria. We want to rescue the country to make sure things get better. The essence of this new merger is to make Nigeria a better country,” he said.
Fashola spoke in the same vein. “The underlying reason is to make Nigeria a better place. This is not the best Nigeria can have. We intend to deliver the best to Nigeria,” he said.
Yari, the Zamfara State governor, accused the PDP of having betrayed Nigerians in the 14 years since it has run the central government. “As journalists, you can ask many people outside there if they are happy with PDP since 1999 it has been in power or not. We believe PDP has done less. So, we have the idea. We have the knowledge. We have the intention to move the country forward. We are ready to move the PDP out of power,” he said.
Amosun, Ogun State governor, said the parties involved in the merger are ready, willing and able to dislodge the PDP and drive the country in the direction it should go. “We do not take this lightly. We are very determined. I am sure this will work with the support of all Nigerians,” he declared.
In Abuja, a day after the meeting of the governors, the four parties announced the name of their new party, All Progressive Congress, at a media briefing. Chairman of the Merger Committee of the ACN, Chief Tom Ikimi, said this was produced by a consensus of the parties involved. Ikimi also read the communiqué issued at the end of the meeting, which endorsed the merger and the new name.
The communiqué was also signed by the representatives of APGA, Senator Annie Okonkwo; Chairman of the Merger Committee of CPC, Alhaji Garba Sadi; and the Chairman of the Merger Committee of ANPP, Alhaji Ibrahim Shekarau. Among those at the briefing were Chief George Moghalu, Chief Olusegun Osoba, Chief Niyi Adebayo, Senator Chris Ngige, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Senator Kabiru Gaya and Senator Bukar Abba-Ibrahim. According to Ikimi, the new party will bring progress to the country by being committed to internal democracy, fighting against corruption and creating jobs among other issues. “The resolution of these issues, the restoration of hope, and the enthronement of true democratic values for peace, democracy and justice are those concerns which propel us,” he said.
Ikimi added that the leadership of the merged parties will soon inform the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, about the merger. On what the fate of members of opposition parties in the National Assembly will be after the merger, Ikimi said they will not be adversely affected because they are not defecting to another party. A notable absence at the meeting of the governors in Lagos was that of Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State. This provoked suspicions that he may not be in agreement with the merger.
But according to Ikimi, Oshiomhole is committed to the merger, but was absent from the meeting because of flight problems associated with bad weather. Notwithstanding that, Oshiomhole late last week proffered ways by which APC could be a huge success, even as doubts persist in some quarters that the merger would be an exercise in futility as had been previous ones. He said one of the ways the merger could succeed is if APC leaders sacrificed their personal aspirations in the interest of the nation.
Speaking last Thursday when former presidential candidate of ANPP, and former Governor of Kano State, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, led a high-powered delegation of the party on a visit to him in Government House in Benin City, the Edo state capital, Oshiomhole said: “All of us as leaders and followers should recognise that for a merger to be fruitful, a level of sacrifice will be required and everyone will be required to moderate his aspiration and people must be ready to submit their personal interest to bigger national interest.
“I have no doubt that all those involved in the process recognise that these are the irreducible minimum and we are all determined to making those sacrifices. At the end of the day, it is all about Nigeria, not about individuals or party. It’s about giving our people an alternative base to choose from; that the electorate have the power to reward or sanction and those who wish to be in power have to listen to the yearnings of the electorate.”
He described the emergence of APC as “healthy, having recognised that we all accept there is no better alternative than democracy.”
He noted that “in mature democracies all over the world where governance has changed from one political party to another, one will find that they have two major political parties and they may also have a third fringe party which chooses to go into alliance as in the case of a parliamentary system.”
On his part, Malam Shekarau said one of the major assignments of the National Rebuilding and Inter-Party Committee of the ANPP is to reach out to members of other political parties of like minds to enrich the democratic process and give Nigerians an alternative.
He noted that the formation of APC was a major breakthrough in the country and assured that the ANPP is committed to providing the people an alternative platform in the country. “ANPP is committed to this new change and this new progressive development to provide Nigerians with an alternative platform to ensure that the aspirations of Nigerians for good governance at the centre is realised,” said Shekarau.
Last Thursday, former Head of State, and presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in the 2011 elections, retired General Muhammadu Buhari said the formation of the new opposition party, the All Progressive Congress (APC), is to mobilise Nigerians for 2015.
He told journalists in Abuja that the focus of the new party is to have a strong opposition force in the next general elections.
Similarly, Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi described the merger as a rescue mission. He said the opposition wishes to replicate at the national level what it has been doing in their various states.
Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has congratulated the opposition parties for their successful merger and formation of the All Progressive Congress (APC).
National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Olisa Metuh, said as the biggest party in West Africa, it welcomes the development as an indication that the nation’s democracy has come of age and is deepening.
The statement added that with the formation of the APC, the PDP and indeed all Nigerians expect to see robust debates on the economy and other issues of governance.
“We congratulate the opposition for their successful merger and the formation of the All Progressive Congress. This is yet another victory to our democracy. It shows that our democracy has come of age. We hope that from now we will see robust debates on the economy and other issues of governance,” the party said.
The party charged the opposition to use the vehicle of their new party to challenge PDP’s elected and appointed officers to debates on government projects and achievements so that at the end of the day, Nigerians will benefit from the nation’s political developments.
The Niger State governor and member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Muazu Babangida Aliyu has also lauded the merger by opposition parties. He said that a strong opposition is what the nation needs at this time.
Kwara State governor, Abdulfattah Ahmed stated that the new party poses no threat to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Speaking on a monthly programme called ‘Governor Explains’, Governor Ahmed noted that it is normal for political parties to form alliance, adding that the ruling party is not threatened but would rather become stronger as a result.
Governor Ahmed called for the formation of ideologically driven political parties to enhance the country’s political and democratic system.
However, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, PDP National Chairman, was quoted by a newspaper as saying that the merger does not amount to a threat to the PDP, which he described as the “Messi (Lionel) of Nigerian politics”.
“People tend to believe that when they see people coming together they will do well. If they have the strength why do they come together? If you go for a contest you have the striker, you know Lionel Messi? PDP is Messi in that context. They (opposition) are not a threat at all,” Tukur said.
Despite the hope expressed by the parties involved in the merger, history is not on their side. In the Second Republic, a merger attempt by the Chief Obafemi Awolowo-led Unity Party of Nigeria, the National People’s Party led by Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, the Great Nigeria People’s Party led by Alhaji Waziri Ibrahim and the People’s Redemption Party led by Malam Aminu Kano floundered because neither Awolowo nor Azikiwe, the biggest fishes in the pond, wanted to step down.In 1999, a similar attempt by the Alliance for Democracy, AD, and All People’s Party, now All Nigeria People’s Party, was also marred by personal ambition. The late Dr. Olusola Saraki, sore at losing the presidential ticket of the coalition to Chief Olu Falae of the AD, ditched the alliance. Though Falae ran for the presidency on the coalition’s ticket, he did so on a diminished platform. Two years ago, the proposed marriage between the ACN and CPC also collapsed on account of dispute over the sharing of positions in the government they had hoped to form. The personalities involved in the saga are also prominent in the current arrangement, leading many to conclude that it is only a matter of time before the union crumbles.
—Kazeem Ugbodaga