- We’re in this together – PDP
Barring all odds, more than 35 political parties are set to merge in the next two weeks, with a view to forming a grand alliance to challenge President Muhammadu Buhari’s All Progressives Congress in next year’s general elections.
This was confirmed to The Point at the weekend by two top chieftains of political parties involved in the grand alliance talks.
First to announce the G-35 mega alliance was Mr. Akin Osuntokun, the spokesman for former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s Coalition for Nigeria Movement.
Obasanjo’s CNM, which was formed in the heat of his tiff with the Buhari government, following an open letter by him that Buhari should not run for another term, has since dissolved into one of the emerging parties, the African Democratic Congress.
But the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party, is reportedly waiting on the wings, to determine the strength of the 35 parties coming together.
ALL SET – OSUNTOKUN
Osuntokun, in an exclusive chat with our correspondent, said all was set for the mega alliance, as dialogue among the parties coming together had reached a critical stage.
Another source in the ADC, who would not want to be mentioned, however, said, “In the next two weeks, we shall unveil a mega alliance of 35 political parties and other groups, which will adopt the name of one of the parties, and hit the ground running.”
Speaking on the imminent take-off of the G-35, Osuntokun said, “It is true that more than 35 parties have come together under the coalition, purposely to unseat the ruling party in 2019.
“Some members of nPDP (New Peoples Democratic Party) are also talking to us in respect of these moves. If all the opposition platforms would like to fight the presidential election, that is the way to go. All opposition platforms can come together in a great alliance for the purpose of contesting a presidential election, and just choose one candidate.”
Asked if the short period left before the elections would not affect the mega alliance in terms of cohesion and preparations, Osuntokun replied, “Look, it is not us that are going to achieve this, it is the Nigerian citizens. If you are happy with Nigeria and Buhari, then you can go on with him. I cannot force anyone and our party is not going to impose on people. It is the people that will determine everything at the end of the election. The only thing that is observable is the general revulsion against the Buhari regime.”
The ADC chieftain also said that all the parties coming together under the aegis of the coalition were ready to adopt a candidate that would unseat Buhari through the next presidential election.
Stating the modus operandi of the alliance, Osuntokun said, “The Coalition that I am talking about doesn’t mean the parties will merge; it is for the purpose of the presidential election. Each party, like the SDP (Social Democratic Party) and so on, will adopt one person that will be backed by all, to unseat Buhari.”
…ONOVO TOO
Also confirming the emerging mega alliance, a chieftain of the National Conscience Party and immediate past presidential candidate of the party, Chief Martin Onovo, while speaking with our correspondent, said the stage was already set to dislodge both the APC and PDP in Nigeria.
He maintained that Nigeria was about to experience “a grand coalition that will, hence, determine the pace in Nigerian politics.”
Onovo said, “All patriotic politicians in this country have agreed on one thing: this government must leave office at the soonest time possible, which is 2019. There are several consultations going on. The 35-party coalition that the National Conscience Party belongs, also has Action Alliance, Labour Party and many others. We have been working together to unseat this current government.
“The coalition of 35 parties has aligned with the ADC. They are aligned because the purpose for the coalition, led by Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, is the same purpose for the 35-party coalition, which is to unseat the ruling party.
“Ultimately, what we are going to see is a grand coalition of coalitions for the purpose of removing this catastrophic ruling party. The 35 parties are aligned with the Coalition for Nigerian Movement. If we don’t remove the ruling power from seat, Nigeria will not succeed anymore.”
Findings by our correspondent revealed, however, that some key members of the nPDP might soon defect to the ADC in order to work along with the grand coalition.
A member of the CNM, who confided in our correspondent, said that some members of the nPDP, who had set the time for their exit from the ruling APC, had already contacted the CNM for possible synergy.
“nPDP members have contacted us for possible integration and we have given them our terms. If they are ready to work with us, they are welcome. Already, their time is running out in APC and they need a better platform that can bring true democracy to the country,” the CNM member said.
EIGHT GOVS SET TO DEFECT
Already, no fewer than eight state governors are with the G-35 and are only bidding their time before defecting to the ADC, it was learnt.
A competent source in the ADC, who would not want to be named, revealed, “At least eight state governors, who are members of the APC and the PDP, respectively, are joining us very soon. They are expected to defect once the mega platform is named, and I can assure you that once these eight governors defect, others will follow suit.”
The source added that many National Assembly members from both the House of Representatives and the Senate, from the two major parties, were also involved in the mega alliance talks and would soon cross carpet, to beef up the mega coalition team.
PARTIES REACT
The coalition of 35 political parties that are now discussing with Obasanjo’s CNM/ADC, it was learnt, is being led by the Labour Party.
Leaders of some political parties confirmed the development to our correspondent in separate interviews.
Immediate past governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, who though is currently in the PDP, may soon return to the Labour Party, his old party, to give him a sound footing in the grand coalition convergence, sources also informed.
Mimiko’s media spokesman, Mr. Eni Akinsola, tacitly confirmed this when he said his principal “is an adult, who can take a decision he deems good for him.”
The National Chairman of the NCP, Alhaji Tanko Yinusa, in his contribution, said the coalition of parties was ready to unseat the ruling party in the coming general elections.
Tanko said the coalition had been in existence for some time, adding that they were ready to work with Obasanjo’s CNM/ADC, to achieve their long-term dream.
“We are ready to work with the coalition championed by OBJ, as our target is to unseat the ruling party and bring true democracy to Nigeria,” he said.
However, the National Chairman of the Young Democratic Party, Mrs. Georgia Bokpokpo, told our correspondent that her party was all for the grand alliance, but that it had yet to be contacted.
“We have not been working with the CNM really, but if discussions favour both of us on possible coalition, we can then work together. All we want is good government for Nigerians and this must happen in 2019,” she said.
Meanwhile, as alliance talks among opposition political groups reach a crescendo, there are strong indications that the Youth Revolution Movement, being spearheaded by renowned Lagos cleric, Rev. David Ize-Iyamu, is also a rallying point.
OBJ COURTS YOUTH REVOLUTION MOVEMENT
Last week, former President Obasanjo met with Ize-Iyamu, as the duo reportedly wrapped up talks on how to ensure that resources were mobilised to ensure that no fewer than 50 million registered voters among the Nigerian youths were tracked and encouraged to vote “wisely”, using the instrumentality of the YRM.
When contacted by our correspondent, Ize-Iyamu confirmed meeting with former President Obasanjo, but reserved the details of their closed-door meeting.
“We met, as I have also been meeting with other national leaders, on how to make the youths more active this time, in national politics,” he said.
It was gathered that Ize-Iyamu had received the blessing of notable Christian leaders in the country in his aspiration to sway the votes of young Nigerian Christians for a candidate other than President Muhammadu Buhari.
A source close to the cleric particularly revealed that in a determined move by “stakeholders in the country’s political affairs” to elect a younger person as President come next year, “about N50billion is being mobilised nationwide, to ensure that the votes of the Nigerian youths count.”
The source, who preferred anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue, added, “We have made it a serious issue in YRM to reach out to PVC-carrying youths in each state of the Federation, enlist them and keep in touch with them till the eve of the presidential election. We are all sick of this stagnant administration that has nothing to boast of in almost four years. This time, the youths want to effect the real change through the ballot box.
“And based on empirical findings, the youths have always determined all elections in the country, but often go in the wrong direction, because many of them lack the necessary social education on how to enforce their rights and the overall importance of good governance.”
Ize-Iyamu, who is the General Overseer of Jesus Evangelical Assembly, a church in Lagos, and the National Youth Leader of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, recently told our correspondent that in a few months to come, his YRM would fully mobilise, through a unique datum storage approach, over 17 million youths having the Permanent Voters’ Cards, nationwide.
“Besides, we will mobilise others massively, to go and do voter registration, get their PVCs and gain the necessary awareness on how to effect a change with their votes,” he further enthused.
Ize-Iyamu is the younger brother of the Peoples Democratic Party governorship candidate in the last election in Edo State, Osagie Ize-Iyamu, and is being naturally viewed as having sympathy for the PDP.
NIM OPPOSED TO ADC ADOPTION
However, a snag in the ongoing talks among the G-35, it was gathered, is the refusal of the Nigeria Intervention Movement, led by Abdul Tafawa-Balewa, Mr. Olisa Agbakoba and others, to go with OBJ’s CNM in adopting ADC as the umbrella party for the mega alliance towards producing a joint presidential candidate.
A source in the NIM told our correspondent that the Movement was not comfortable with the final detail leading to the adoption of the ADC, which recently absorbed the CNM.
The source stressed that the NIM was “practically ambushed by the arrangement and had to pull out of a meeting called for that purpose, because toeing that line would appear as a betrayal of NIM’s 35 political-party allies without their consent.
“NIM went on a courtesy call on Obasanjo, but it did not work out because our people did not accept the idea of ADC as the platform, because we also want to give other parties we have alliance with an opportunity and also be fair to them.”
He said, following this development, the NIM had set up a seven-man committee to adopt one party as the final platform from the about 35 parties in its alliance, which as at Thursday, May 17, had been narrowed down to
three.
Although the source declined to disclose the three parties, it was gathered that the most favoured are: Action Democratic Party, the United Progressives Party, and the Labour Party.
WE’RE ALL FOR THE COALITION AGAINST APC, SAYS PDP
The main opposition party, the PDP, has, however, said that it is ready to throw its weight behind the 35 other political parties attempting to forge a coalition to upstage President Buhari and the ruling APC from Aso Villa in 2019.
The National Publicity Secretary, PDP, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, told our correspondent on the phone that being the most viable opposition party, the PDP would at any point in time team up with the others, who he believed were interested in working with it, to ensure that Buhari and the ruling APC did not hold on to power beyond next year.
Ologbondiyan said, “We believe that the PDP is the most viable opposition party and any group, party, association or clique that believes that Nigerians have become despondent and disenchanted with the APC government, we expect them to come and ally with the PDP and so, wherever they are, at some point, we are all going to work together against the APC and the Buhari government.”
When asked if the PDP would still feel comfortable in an arrangement, which has former President Olusegun Obasanjo as one of its arrowheads, the party spokesman said, “We do not believe that there is any Nigerian today that does not want to work with the PDP, inasmuch as such a Nigerian is desirous of working against the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari.”
