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Tag: ACN

  • ACN: PDP is dysfunctional family

    ACN: PDP is dysfunctional family

    The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is a big-for-nothing dysfunctional family that practises political cannibalism.

    The opposition said this is the reason for the ruling party’s “spiralling descent into ignominy”.

    In a statement yesterday in Lagos by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, ACN noted that anyone calling the PDP a “big family, united in freedom” may be suffering from hallucination.

    It stressed that despite PDP’s continuous dismissal of the All

    Progressives Congress (APC) as a group of strange bedfellows, which it called “a well-worn cliche that has now lost its meaning”, the PDP “can only underrate the merger at its own peril”.

    The statement added: “A happy family needs no advertisement, because people know a happy family when they see one. A happy family needs not draw attention to itself because happiness cannot be hidden. What the PDP is mistaking for happiness if a form of manic disorder.

    “As this vanishing family continues to sink, it has now degenerated to consuming its own members for survival. Nothing showed this more than the recent election of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF). Ever seen a party that is at war because its member won an election? Ever seen a family in which the father is seeking to devour his own son for achieving success? Our sincere wish is that this sinking behemoth will somehow survive till 2015 so it can receive the drubbing of its life.”

    The party said the truth of the matter is that the PDP is pathologically afraid of the APC, even in its yet-to-be registered form, “hence the continuous campaign of calumny and crude attacks on its leaders”.

    The opposition wondered why the ruling party is spending the time and energy that should have been focused on mending its tattered umbrella to worry about whether or not the merger will succeed or whether it will soon be in disarray.

    ACN said: “There is some truth in the saying that anytime one sees a ‘no thoroughfare’ sign, there is definitely a way there. The PDP knows for sure that the coming into being of the APC signals its death knell. That is why it has been flailing aimlessly. But the die is cast. Nigeria needs to be rescued from these cannibals. No amount of blackmail, abuse, attacks or whatever will deter the patriots who have come together for just one purpose: to rescue Nigeria.

    “For those who will continue to denigrate this merger or attack the patriots behind the merger, even when there is no reason for it (after all democracy thrives on plurality of opinion), we say, bring it on!”

  • ACN, CPC slam Jonathan for backing Jang’s faction

    ACN, CPC slam Jonathan for backing Jang’s faction

    Opposition parties yesterday joined the fray as the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) election crisis deepens.

    Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi defected Plateau State Governor Jonah Jang by 19 votes to 16 in the May 24 election.

    But the Jang group alleged that the election breached the convention of the NGF which ensured that all previous chairmen emerged by consensus.

    Jang, accompanied by 15 other governors, opened his faction’s secretariat last Thursday. The group also met with President Goodluck Jonathan.

    The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the Conference for Progressive Change (CPC) yesterday criticised Dr. Jonathan for siding with the Jang faction.

    AC N National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in a statement in Osogbo, Osun State, yesterday described as “a travesty of democracy for President Goodluck Jonathan to recognise Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State as the ‘Chair’ of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF), even though Jang lost to Governor Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers State in what has been widely acknowledged as a free, fair and transparent NGF poll.”

    The party said the President’s “ill-advised decision” has shown that he has “little or no respect for democracy, and will stop at nothing to jettison time-tested ideals on the altar of political opportunism.”

    It said the recognition of the losing candidate for the chairmanship of the NGF has also shown that the President’s spokesmen either do not know the thinking of their principal or have chosen to engage in downright lies in his defence.

    “President Jonathan is frittering away whatever is left of his credibility by the day. His spokesman said in a statement the day after the NGF election that ‘the President has always shown a willingness to work harmoniously with any leadership freely and independently chosen by the Governors Forum for the collective progress and development of all sections of the country and will continue to do so.

    “President Jonathan trusts that as true democrats and respected national political leaders, members of the Governors Forum will quickly resolve the issues and differences among them which emerged yesterday (May 24th) and continue to contribute effectively to national development as a strong, and progressive body’.

    “But it is now clear that the presidency’s statement is not worth the paper on which it is written, that in the Nigerian presidency, words do not carry their exact meanings and that the spokesmen for the President speak for no one but themselves. When viewed in the context of similar deceitful statements by the Presidency in the past, especially on the health of the First Lady, one can see a growing pattern of a lying presidency, a presidency that likes to hide behind one finger. This is sad, because without credibility, a president cannot govern successfully,’’ ACN said.

    The party said the President, who should be looked up to as the father of all, “has become the father of a few renegades, and descended from being the President of Nigeria to the President of the PDP and and now the President of a faction of the PDP”.

    “This President is daily cementing his unenviable reputation as the most divisive President in the history of Nigeria. By raising partisan politics to a pedestal higher than national interest, he has divided the country along religious, ethnic and political lines more than any of his predecessors.

    “In the process he has destroyed or is about to destroy national institutions and organisations. First, he succumbed to the pressure from his party to deal with the judiciary for daring to reverse the outcome of some of PDP’s rigged polls. But for a courageous Chief Justice of Nigeria who cannot be teleguided now in the saddle, the judiciary will have been emasculated altogether.

    “Then the President all but put an end to the fight against corruption, which is widely acknowledged as a canker worm that is fast destroying the fabric of our society, and now he has destroyed the NGF. This is not an enviable legacy for any President,’’ it said.

    The CPC described Jang’s endorsement by the President as “shameful”.

    His earlier denial, CPC said, did not work on Nigerians adding that such a person cannot win the presidential election in 2015.

    It called on the international community to take greater interest in Nigeria’s democracy which, “with the President’s brand of deleterious politics, is in danger of peril”. “We call on the Nigerian people to remain resolute in defending the cause of democracy because eternal vigilance is the price for liberty!”

    The National Publicity Secretary, of the party Rotimi Fashakin, who issued the statement, added: “The deception did not travel for too long. President Goodluck Jonathan’s endorsement of Governor Jonah Jang as the ‘elected’ chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) has finally removed the wind off the sail of the rigmarole and denials as regards the source of the contrived crisis in the NGF. This action is shameful.

    “It will be recalled that on Friday, 24th May, 2013, 35 out the Nation’s 36 governors voted in an election for a new chairman for a two-year tenure. The incumbent Chairman, Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, sought a re-election. The President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, did not believe that the Rivers Governor’s re-election would be helpful for his own re-election bid in 2015. He plotted, using the platform of his party, People’s Democratic Party (PDP, to truncate Mr. Amaechi’s ambition. At first, a new platform for PDP governors was birthed, with a fierce Jonathan loyalist in charge.

    “The earlier date set for the election was put off to enable the anti-Amaechi coalition, under the aegis of the PDP governors’ group, to gain some momentum for the task ahead. The high-wire intrigues deployed by the PDP high command belied the determination of the President to use the election as the litmus-test for his readiness to capture the country in 2015. As a way of getting firm assurance of victory, endorsement of his preferred candidate, Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State, was purportedly assented by 19 PDP governors before the election.

    “The election, which was recorded, revealed 19-16 majority victory for Governor Amaechi. The anti-Amaechi group made known its rejection of the election on the premise that a pre-election endorsement of their candidate, Governor Jang, had showed victory. For any dispassionate and discerning observer, this puerile predication of the anti-Amaechi group’s dissent is laughable and utterly ludicrous. The question asked is, can a pre-election endorsement be the same as the actual votes cast in an election? The logic of this group’s dissent stretches credulity beyond tolerable elastic limit!

    “Though initially flummoxed by Mr. Amaechi’s victory, the PDP national leadership believed that travelling on the road of perfidy would really fit its demagogic, larger-than-life image as the ruling party, hence the President’s endorsement of Mr. Jang as elected. This anti-democratic stance should not surprise anyone familiar with PDP’s brand of democracy. The split in the NGF was the impetus needed by the leaders of PDP to unveil the plan for ensuring distortion of the Nation’s electoral process hereafter.

    “As a party, we are appalled by the President’s abandonment of the ship of state to cause needless overheating of the polity. The NGF, as it stands, remains a voluntary platform among Nigeria’s governors, with no constitutional function. How the election of the chairman of the NGF captured the animated interest of the President, despite the seeming myriad of issues besetting the Nation State, is still puzzling.

    “This, of course, is another attestation of the President’s besmirched reputation for wrong priorities. Undoubtedly, the President’s conduct in the just concluded governors’ election is a pointer to the immense electoral incongruities being planned for the 2015 elections. Unfortunately, all the President’s men and women have sworn to obsequious subservience which explains why he is egged on to continue with the capricious politics that is only geared towards exacerbating the overheated Nigerian polity.”

  • PDP, ACN, ANPP: Where is internal democracy?

    PDP, ACN, ANPP: Where is internal democracy?

    Have the political parties added value to democracy? MUSA ODOSHIMOKHE examines the challenges confronting the platforms.

     

    At the blast of the whistle in 1999, three political parties -the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the All Peoples Party (APP), which later became the All Nigerian People Party (ANPP) and the Alliance for Democracy (AD) contested the first general elections. However, the number of the parties later increased to 63.

    In the 2011 elections, only 10 of the parties won seats in the National Assembly and Houses of Assembly, a development which the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) explained, was not good enough.

    INEC said it was no longer wise for some of these parties to be sustained on tax payers’ money without making impact in the polity. This led to the axing of 28 political parties on December 6, 2012 and went ahead de-registered another seven later.

    Though the decision was criticised, INEC went ahead to justify the action based on the provisions of Section 7 of the Electoral Act, 2011. And currently INEC has not more than 37 political parties in its kitty and more are likely to go as 2015 draws nearer.

    While the INEC is mopping up the political climate to make it healthier, three major political parties; the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP), Congress of Progressive Change (CPC), and a faction of All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) decided to form a mega party the All Progressives Congress (APC), in order to wrest power from the ruling PDP.

    As theAPC formalises its registration process, another association, All African Congress (APC), said it has forwarded an application to the INEC for registration as a political party.

    Although INEC has explained that the association had not met the requirements for registration, the association had gone to court over the matter and the outcome is being awaited. This and other challenges have dogged the polity and how they would be resolved is generating more interests.

    ACN Publicity Secretary Alhaji Lai Mohammed said the use of his party acronym by another association though in court, would not in any way affect the registration of APC.

    He said: “I think Nigerians should be properly educated on this matter. As at today, there is no political party that is known with acronym of APC. There is a political association with the name African Peoples Congress (APC) whose application has been received by INEC and INEC says that it had not met certain conditions. Now that the party had gone to court to challenge the power of INEC, I will not want to comment any further.

    Defending its credibility, ANPP chieftain, Mallam Ibrahim Sekarau explained that issues of internal democracy is far from what APC will contend because the party came up in the first place to salvage the country and would not be drawn aback by such narrow interests.

    He said: “APC will fill vacant party offices and those that will contest 2015 election based on geo-political zones. No region or zone would be given the chance to dominate others just for the sake of political domination.”

    Former Vice President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar at the Golden Jubilee of the Department of Political Science, University of Ibadan, lashed out at the major parties for lack of internal democracy.

    He accused them of promoting politics of god-fatherism and dictatorship since the country returned to civil rule in 1999.

    The lack of internal democracy in some of the parties has snowballed into legal battle. For instance, the composition of the PDP National Working Committee (NWC) made some members to inevitably go to court to challenge its composition with the electoral umpire saying the PDP did not comply with laid down regulations.

    But the party’s National Vice Chairman Southwest, Ishola Filani debunked the INEC claim.

    “Our party has maintained internal democracy and there is no crisis that we cannot handle. We sit together and discuss matters. Those who went to court have not really come out with any report to justify their position. Anyway, why does it take INEC over One and half year to say that NEC was not properly constituted? Was it not there when the election was conducted?, “ he querried.

    The All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) is thorn apart by factions. And except this is resolved within reasonable time, analysts believ it could undermine its chances in future elections.

    Former governor of Kaduna State and the Chairman of Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP), Alhaji Balabe Musa, said leadership crisis in these parties is pervasive because of self interest. He noted that the leaders of the political parties have not looked beyond personal aggrandisement.

    “Let me say the formation APC is just one step now. They are now moving to the harder part which must also entail party discipline. We must learn from the previous political parties like PPA, PPP and SDP.”

    “Some of these political parties like SDP under Chief Tony Anenih could not muster sufficient courage to stand by Chief M.K.O Abiola who won the 1993 presidential election. He was not declared winner and was killed in the process. It was expected that the leadership of the party should stand by him but that was not the case.”

    It is held by analysts that one of the ways to encourage internal democracy in political parties is to allow independent candidature. Political observers noted that if independent candidate s are allowed to contest elections, some individuals who do not believe in the ideologies of the existing parties, would have the chance to serve the country.

    But Professor Abubabar Momoh who teaches Political Science at the Lagos State University (LASU) in his view explained that the system would be hijacked by money bags which will make the exercise a jamboree.

    “All the parties we have now have the same ideological stand. They are not fundamentally different. The same people are moving from one party to another emerging parties and all they are interested in is just to have power”. and not that they have some fundamental principles or ideas they want to put forward.”

  • ACN chieftain unhappy

    ACN chieftain unhappy

    A stalwart of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and Second Republic senator, Chief Ayo Fasanmi, has decried the retarded growth of the nation in the last 14 years of democracy.

    Describing Nigeria’s democracy as a ruse, the politician regretted that the present civil rule does not have much positive effects on the masses.

    Fasanmi, who spoke yesterday on a life radio and television programme of the Osun State Broadcasting Corporation (OSBC), noted that corruption is the major factor militating against democracy in the country.

    He said: “Nigeria’s democracy could have been better than that of some advanced countries of the world but for corruption which has eaten deep into the fabric of the society.

    “The love of money by many political leaders is a great danger to the future of democracy in this country. Nigerians, who are politicians today, believe in money and not in service, like it was during our active days in politics.”

  • ACN hails Aregbesola on integration

    The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Osun State has described Monday’s Oodua World Children’s Day celebration as “a landmark in the renaissance of Yoruba nationalism”.

    The party said the event would promote the integration of Yoruba people.

    In a statement by its Publicity Director, Mr. Kunle Oyatomi, ACN said the event sensitised Oodua children on the need to be united and strong for the challenges of the future.

    It hailed Governor Rauf Aregbesola for “investing his time, brain and financial resources into promoting Yoruba integration in the last 30 months”.

    ACN said: “The most encouraging aspect of the celebration is the endorsement of Aregbesola by the international congregation of Yoruba spiritual leaders in the persons of over 100 obas, including the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi; the Ooni of Ife, Oba Sijuwade Okunade and the Onisabe of Sabe.

    “So apt and true were the praises they showered on Aregbesola. You could see the renaissance fever and the leadership acceptance of the concept of Yoruba integration, which Aregbesola has been stoutly promoting, despite the misunderstanding and misgivings of critics within and outside the Yoruba nation.”

  • Ikuforiji praises Lagosians for standing by ACN

    Ikuforiji praises Lagosians for standing by ACN

    Lagos State House of Assembly Speaker Adeyemi Ikuforiji has hailed the residents for standing firmly by the ruling Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the implementation of its people-oriented programmes since the return to democracy 14 years ago.

    In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Rotimi Adebayo, the Speaker said: “As we commemorate the 14th year anniversary of our nation’s return to participatory democracy, let me say a ‘Big Thank You’ to all Lagosians for standing firmly by our party since our great nation, Nigeria, returned to the path of popular democracy 14 years ago.

    “As we all know, our state, Lagos, has continued to live up to its name, as the Centre of Excellence, since 1999, when our great leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was overwhelmingly voted in as the second civilian governor under the umbrella of our former party, the Alliance for Democracy (AD). Till today, Lagos State has become the Mecca for other Nigerians in other parts of our great country.

    “All through Asiwaju Tinubu’s eight years in office, Lagosians remained highly supportive of the three arms of government in our State of Aquatic Splendour. It is a thing of great joy that successive arms of government in the state have continued to enjoy undiluted support of Lagos residents till date, despite the fact that we have had to change our party’s name along the line.

     

  • Rejection of results bad omen for 2015, says ACN

    Rejection of results bad omen for 2015, says ACN

    Opposition parties –Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) – yesterday chided the Presidency for its role in the crisis rocking the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF).

    Both parties said the involvement of the Presidency in the election of the Forum’s leadership portends danger for the 2015 elections.

    Presidential spokesman Dr. Reuben Abati has said the President had no hand in the NGF crisis, which he advised the governors to resolve.

    In a statement in Lagos yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, the ACN said: The message that the Presidency, through the puppet governors, is sending to the nation is that the outcome of the 2015 elections will only be valid if a certain candidate emerges the winner.

    ‘’If an election involving only 35 governors can generate so much controversy and threaten to overheat the polity, what will happen when millions of Nigerians vote in 2015? Is this how President Goodluck Jonathan, who is the Godfather of the losing governors, has been sanitising the electoral process as he has been enthusing?

    ‘’The show of shame by the bad losers supporting Governor Jonah Jang, of course at the behest of the Presidency, is an extension of the threat that has been issued by some rabblerousers that it is either Jonathan for 2015 or there will be no Nigeria as we know it. This is the Gbagbo Option that plunged Cote d’Ivoire into a crisis in which it is yet to fully emerge. This is what the puppet governors are pushing for, hence they must be called to order urgently!

    ‘’Governors who participated willingly and fully in the NGF election have suddenly turned around and called the election a fraud after their candidate has lost. What were they thinking when they voted? Could it be that they were so sure that their arm-twisting tactics had worked and hence were sure of victory, only to be drubbed? Did they deviate from the Presidency’s script that they should only use the consensus they extracted from unwilling governors instead of an election to determine the NGF chairmanship?

    ‘’If they realised the ballot papers were not serialised, as the bad losers later claimed, why did they participate in the election? Couldn’t they have raised an objection and refused to participate? Were they dragged to the venue of the polls, screaming and kicking? If so where is the evidence that they were forced to act against their will?’’

    The AC N described the denial by the Presidency of any role in the NGF election as a “tepid denial”.

    According to the party, Akwa Ibom State Governor Godswill Akpabio is acting at the behest of the Presidency. “What President Jonathan did by his meddlesomeness is to stake his presidency on the NGF election, thereby making the elections a referendum on his leadership of his party and country. In both instances, he got the outcome he deserved: A leader who cannot hold his party together cannot hold a nation together,” the AC N said.

    It added that: ‘’And here are some of the lessons that the Presidency should learn, if it so wishes, from the outcome of the NGF elections – There is always a limit to hubris and the use of naked power against perceived opponents. Needless to say that latent power is more potent than naked power. A leader should never do things just because he can.

    The presidency and the ruling party have lost control of themselves. They are bound to also lose control of the nation – democratically – in 2015. Make no mistake about it!” the party added.

    The ACN has called for a probe of the apparently forged document being circulated by the losing governors to show they had harvested the signatures of 18 governors pushing for a consensus candidate just before the elections.

    The party said the fact that the signature of a governor, who neither attended the meeting of the PDP chapter of the NGF nor sent a representative, was included in the consensus list is an indication that the signatures were harvested long before the meeting and the day of the election. Of course, it is also clear that the dates on the typed document were cancelled and new dates handwritten.

    ‘’If the losing governors are insisting that the list is genuine and that the signatures were obtained at the NGF-PDP meeting shortly before the voting, then they owe Nigerians an explanation on how a man who did not attend the meeting or send a representative could have signed the document in question,’’ it said.

    The ACN advised Akpabio and his group to accept the result of the NGF elections instead of threatening to break the NGF – and overheat the polity – just to satisfy their masters, saying “national interest should supersede parochial interest.”

    ANPP National Publicity Secretary Mr. Emma Eneukwu expressed sadness that “the election just mirrored the resolve of the Presidency to create confusion and anarchy whereever it fails to actualise its aims”.

    “It is a common knowledge that the Presidency brought out all jokers in its purse to stop Ameachi but couldn’t and, instead of submitting to the will of the majority, it decided to destroy the forum by introducing faction.”

  • ACN: PDP’s prayer session to oust Amosun a mockery of religion

    The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Ogun State has described the prayer session organised by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against Governor Ibikunle Amosun’s reelection as a mockery of religion.

    ACN was reacting to an interdenominational service organised recently by the PDP National Youth Vanguard at the party’s state secretariat in Abeokuta, the state capital.

    ACN urged PDP to atone for its “sins against the people”.

    In a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Mr. Sola Lawal, the party said spiritual blackmail can never work with God, who will always support the truth.

    ACN said: “The eight harrowing years of the PDP’s reign in Ogun have left an indelible scar on the people, who went to the last polls armed with prayers to kick out the incompetent administration.

    “The blood-letting, brigandage and lawlessness perpetrated by top brass in the PDP administration were unprecedented. It is a comforting surprise that those who played God yesterday have not only come to realise their dispensability and limitation, but also the rapacious reach of retributive justice.”

    Describing the prayer session as an abominable act, ACN said: “The PDP stands for everything except justice and righteousness, which God demands from leaders, so its supplication, rather than result in favourable response from God, will evoke divine judgment against it for its unrighteous and evil acts against the people.

    “We urge the PDP to meditate on God’s warning to the people of Israel on the coming judgment as captured in the book of Amos 5:21-24 thus ‘I hate, I despise your feast days and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. Though ye offer me burnt offerings, I will not accept them, neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts. Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols. But judgment runs down as waters and righteousness as a mighty stream.’

    “The Amosun administration is a manifestation of God’s acceptance of the prayers and sacrifices of the God-fearing people of Ogun State, who have reinforced their supplications to Him for continued peace and good governance in the state.

  • ‘Don’t drag ACN into PDP crisis’

    A chieftain of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Rivers State, Austin Joe Tenor, has warned against dragging the party into the crisis rocking the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Tenor, who is party chairman in Ikwerre Local Government Area, gave the warning when he hosted youths at the secretariat in Omagwa.

    He warned them to steer clear of any protest and avoid any role capable of leading the state into violence.

    He said: “What is happening in Rivers shows that the leaders are very far from God and it is unacceptable for anyone to drag ACN into a crisis it did not create.

    “ACN is a formidable opposition and we will continue to show other parties the way.

    “I want to warn all those using the name of ACN. We must concentrate our energies and ideas only on courses supporting progress and development to the state.”

  • ‘Emergency rule has castrated the governors’

    ‘Emergency rule has castrated the governors’

    The National Publicity Secretary of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Alhaji Lai Mohammed, spoke with MUSA ODOSHIMOKHE on the preparation for INEC’s registration by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and other national issues.

    The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the Congress of Progressive Change (CPC) and the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) have held their national conventions. What is next?

    The next thing is that the three political parties will jointly write to the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in accordance with the relevant sections of the Electoral Act. The sections stipulate that if two or more parties that want to merge, must inform INEC of their resolution to merge. That, the parties involved will now write a letter to INEC, to be signed by their respective national chairmen and make it available to INEC. That is the point we are now at this moment. The three parties have now resolved jointly, to be one political party, stating its address and getting the interim officers of the political party that will pilot its affairs.

    Is there any deadline for this?

    The only deadline is the time that the letter is written and received by INEC. And that is to say INEC must reply within one month that the letter was received. We hope that before the week runs out we would be able to send the letter to INEC.

    How will the interim officers emerged?

    The leadership of the three parties will meet to determine how the new party will be administered in the interim. As soon as the approval is given by INEC, that the merger has been approved, the leadership of the three parties must now meet to embark on massive education of new members. A convention committee will be put in place. It will be saddled with the responsibilities of holding congresses from the wards to the national convention levels to elect officers across the whole country.

    The three parties are not of equal strengths. How will the distribution of offices be done?

    One of the conditionalities of the merger is that all the parties involved in the merger must be treated as equal. That is why we were able to achieve what we have achieved so far. We do not have any party that is superior or above others irrespective of their contribution to the merger. We treated the ANPP, CPC, ACN and APGA as equal partners in the merger. When the committee that drafted the programme leading to the merger met, we ensured that equal numbers were brought to the committee. In the same manner, what will happen again, will be decided in this same format.

    How are you resolving the ‘APC’ matter, which is currently in court?

    I think Nigerians should be properly educated on this matter. As at today, there is no political party that is known with acronym of APC. There is a political association with the name African Peoples Congress (APC) whose application has been received by INEC and INEC says that it had not met certain conditions. Now that the party had gone to court to challenge the power of INEC, I will not want to comment any further. That is why, at the conventions of the political parties; ACN, CPC and ANPP, INEC was not only given adequate notice but its presence at the conventions was ensured. But as far as we are concerned, it will be more of a distraction to dwell on the ‘APC’ matter. We have not seen how that will affect the registration of our party.

    The APGA challenge is equally there as a faction of the party has threatened court action against the faction known as ‘APGA-APGA’. Will this not affect the merger?

    You see, we have taken cognisance of the fact that APGA is factionalised and in dealing with APGA, we have not put them in the same pedestal like ANPP, CPC and ACN. In other words, we don’t ask APGA to go for a convention at which the party will pass a motion, if we had done that then APC will run into trouble. APGA is coming into the party as a formidable group led by the Imo State governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha. APGA is not one of the parties that applied to INEC. So, no matter the outcome of the in-fighting in APGA, it is not going to affect APC. This is because we are treating APGA as a group.

    What is the level of confidence you have in the INEC, as far as the registration is concerned?

    You see, we want to be proved wrong and we have no reason to be apprehensive. We are not losing any sleep over the registration of APC.

    APC, when registered, will have the major political parties and other groups in its fold. How will you prevent the party from being held down by the caucuses?

    The issue of caucuses or interest groups is part of party politics everywhere in the world. The issue is always there, caucuses or groups will always determine the stability of parties. Take the PDP for instance, how many caucuses will you talk about? We have that of the governors, which has formed a party cartel. There is that of the president on the other hand. There is the chairman of the party and member of the National Working Committee (NWC). This is the way party caucuses, which usually determine the stability of the party, are held. We have no fear in our own case, given our attitude and given how far we are able to achieve what we have done so far; there will not be any problem that we will not be able to handle.

    The issue of your presidential candidate has been generating much interest. How will it be resolved?

    The nomination of the presidential candidate in any political party has always generated much debate and tension. This is normal. But we are encouraged by the way and manner we have been able to resolve other knotty issues in the merger process such as the name, logo, constitution and manifesto even up to the slogan of the party. People never expected us to have these things resolved. We did not fight over name. They had said the logo of our party will cause all the problems but we moved beyond that. The constitution matter was resolved. Is it the manifesto you are talking about? We have amicably put all these behind us. The good thing is that in each of these cases, we were able to handle them. And where some matters could not easily be resolved, we took a break and referred the matter to the committee of the party. I believe that the same method would be applied in resolving how the presidential candidate of our party will emerge. We are not only going to amicably resolve the presidential candidate matter but others as well. People focus too much on the president, they have forgotten that APC is going to contest every election. The State Houses of Assembly, National Assembly, Governorship elections and the same issues will arise at every level. But, as long as we stand on our constitution, we are confident that we will resolve all the matters amicably. I can assure you that under our constitution, the method to resolve all these matters are in place and we will treat them on their merits.

    It is believed that the APC has already zoned the Presidency to the North…

    Honestly, I am saying this with all sincerity, the only issues that have been resolved is our party name, logo, constitution and manifesto; all others have not been resolved. You cannot say oh, we have zone the presidency to one part of the country or the other. The most challenging task before us now is mobilisation. We are thinking of our national convention, where we would nominate those who will run the affairs of the party and they are going to campaign for it.

    APC will test its strength in the Anambra 2014 election, how prepared are you for this election?

    In the first place, ACN has contested election in Anambra State before and we gave a good account. The election there is coming up in November, as soon as we get the approval for the merger; of course our party is going to contest. That is why we are working hard to put in place the structures. That is why the national convention, congresses are very crucial now, so that we will have the body to conduct primaries. Remember that ACN contested the governorship election with the incumbent and with the disenfranchisement of our members; we still had an impressive performance. In the same Anambra elections, we were not only able to produce a senator but several members of the National Assembly and State House of Assembly. That was what the strength ACN could pull. Imagine what will happen with the division in APGA; and make no mistake about it, Governor Okorocha’s faction in APGA is not only in Imo State but has good followership in Anambra State. So, believe me, we are the party to watch in the state.

    What are the constraints that have confronted the merger leaders?

    It is a normal thing, it is like when two or three companies want to merge, where we have different culture, different background. A couple of years ago, many banks had to merge to remain in business. They knew that their survival was in that merger and for those who were not able to meet the CBN guidelines, the option opened to them was to merge. Of course, there will be personal issues but I am very confident that we will overcome.

    Some people are already resurrecting UPN of old to confront APC…

    Yes, some party may exist just in name. Any party can emerge in the Southwest as long there is a level playing ground for everybody. We are not deterred and the field is plain for everybody to play. Our party in the Southwest is strong. They have performed and delivered to the people; in Lagos, Oyo, Ogun, Ekiti, Edo and Osun, we have not been disappointed by their performance. We are very proud of our governors. So, if any body wants to contest, let him call himself by any name, we are not looking back and we are not deterred. The people know what they want and will always determine what they want. We will go out to do our campaign during elections and will not relent on our oars.

    What is your party doing about the crisis between the Ekiti State governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, and Opeyemi Bamidele?

    I think it is more of newspaper hype and I think the conflict is more real in the media. In ACN there are laid down procedures of addressing issues and I believe this one is also being properly addressed.

    What informed your position on the state of emergency declared in some states?

    It is a pity that we have been largely misunderstood. I have not only made it clear, that we condemn any form of killings, violence, either by insurgency or by any other means. We made our position clear and condemn what happened in Bama, Baga and Nasarawa. What we want in the country is peace and stability. On the issue of the State of Emergency, we must set our mind to certain issues. We believe that this matter will not be resolve by violent means. We asked if the use of force had worked where President Goodluck Jonathan had declared state of emergency in some parts of the country in the last two years. Secondly, we pointed out that this is an open ended declaration and there was no time frame. It has no tenure or is it going to last for ever? Thirdly, we wanted the National Assembly to clarify who will be in charge in the states where the emergency had been declared. But as at today, we have two governments in these states. The defacto, led by the military, and, the dejure, led by the governors. And we asked Nigerians not to be hoodwinked by the fact that the governors have not been removed and the State Houses of Assembly have not been dissolved. Although there is democracy, but the governments have been castrated. The wide power given to the military has actually made the governors bystanders. For instance today, which law is being obeyed? The one passed by the Houses or the proclamation of the military. Curfews had been declared, who declared them? We are even more worried that in this type of war, the ultimate victim is the common man. Unfortunately, our position has come under scrutiny but time will tell. I have never seen in anywhere in the world, where force has been used to resolve this type of matter. We must balance minimum force with diplomacy and dialogue. The amnesty committee has been inaugurated, how do they operate in this type of system?