- Coalition mulls review of name for former ruling party
- PDP, ADC leaders meet in Abeokuta to finetune masterplan
- ‘Stakeholders to unveil single presidential candidate in few weeks’
The grand plan to end the reign of the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress, by 2019, may have taken an interesting dimension with a consensus reached by leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party to prevail on its current National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, to step down for Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola.
Impeccable sources in the main opposition party revealed to our correspondent, at the weekend, that the African Democratic Congress and other political parties that had agreed to form a strong coalition against the return of President Muhammadu Buhari to Aso Rock Villa, come 2019, were in full support of the decision.
Oyinlola, National Coordinator of former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s Coalition for Nigeria Movement, which has since fused into the ADC, was supposed to have taken over as National Chairman of ADC, from Chief Ralph Nwosu, this July, our correspondent gathered.
Recall that Oyinlola, a former Governor of Osun State, was National Secretary of the New PDP, which exited the PDP, to become a key component of the APC at the formative stage. That group has now bowed out of the APC to be called the Reformed APC. Oyinlola had defected in 2014 after the PDP refused to implement the order of the Court of Appeal that ordered his reinstatement as the National Secretary of the PDP.
There are, however, doubts that Secondus, a 63-year-old politician from Rivers State, South-South of Nigeria, will bow out without resistance, when arrangements are concluded.
But a reliable source, who spoke with our correspondent in Ilorin, Kwara State, on Sunday, said, “The consensus is that everyone must shelve personal interests, right now, to put Nigeria back in shape. On your question about the planned arrangement leading to disharmony among loyalists or groups, we have found out that, in all our talks, everyone believes that we must come together to save Nigeria. At the end of the day, it is about Nigeria, and luckily, everyone is together on this.
With the predominant thinking that PDP would have been better off picking its national chairman from the region where the ruling APC has a grip on, the plan to replace Secondus with Oyinlola will definitely be a step in the right direction after all. At the end of the day, it will be win-win for all Nigerians
“With the predominant thinking that PDP would have been better off picking its national chairman from the region where the ruling APC has a grip on, the plan to replace Secondus with Oyinlola will definitely be a step in the right direction after all. At the end of the day, it will be win-win for all Nigerians.”
COALITION GROUPS MULL REVIEW OF THE NAME ‘PDP’
Another strategic move that will be considered by leaders of the PDP and ADC, ahead of the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the latter and 68 other political parties, which may have been shelved for the middle of this week, is a review of PDP’s name, further findings have revealed.
The Point exclusively gathered that, barring last minute changes, a crucial meeting between national leaders of the PDP and ADC had been slated for Monday (today) in Abeokuta.
A top official of one of the parties coming together to form the much-talked about colation group, or party, as guidelines allow, said, “Though the PDP has unfounded credibility issues, strategically created by the APC, hanging around its name, it is still the oldest, biggest party, with its full structures in place. In terms of strength and acceptability, I would say the ADC follows, though the ADC seems to be the rallying point now.
“We are thinking that, to fight this common enemy of Nigerians, we will all just come under one of the existing parties. Since INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission) will not agree to us registering a new party now, if talks go in that line, PDP may just apply for a review of its name, which can fly. Each party may also maintain its identity and work on an alliance. But all of that will be discussed tomorrow and thereafter.”
The source, who spoke in confidence to our correspondent, owing to the sensitivity of the issue, said the MoU, which would protect the interests of every member of the Grand Coalition, would be signed, based on the agreements reached at the crucial meeting of national leaders of the two “big parties.”
COALITION TO UNVEIL SINGLE CANDIDATE IN FEW WEEKS
The coalition group, according to another source that opted for anonymity, owing to the sensitive nature of the matter, is determined to unveil a single presidential candidate, agreed to by all parties in the coalition, in a few weeks.
The source, who spoke to our correspondent in Lagos, revealed, “Already, we have asked the PDP to give us their top-rated presidential contestants for screening this month and so far, they have submitted six names, which include Atiku Abubakar, Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, Ahmed Makarfi, Donald Duke, Sule Lamido and Rabiu Kwankwaso (who has just defected from the APC).
“After the screening, which will begin midway into this month (July), we will also screen top presidential candidates from the other parties and then come up with a single presidential nominee for adoption by all the parties.
We are thinking that, to fight this common enemy of Nigerians, we will all just come under one of the existing parties. Since INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission) will not agree to us registering a new party now, if talks go in that line, PDP may just apply for a review of its name, which can fly
So, if party ‘A’ produces the President, Party ‘B’ will field a running mate, while other positions will be lined up for other parties in the alliance and everything will be in black and white.”
Corroborating the claim, spokesman for the ADC, Mr. Akin Osuntokun, confirmed that the Coalition would soon come up with a single presidential candidate to take on President Buhari of the ruling APC in the next
election.
Osuntokun, in an interview with The Point, said, “We will cross the bridge when we get there. The thing is that, as it is, there are different people who want to contest. Of all the parties, you will see people showing their interests here and there.
“But what we believe should happen is that the entire contestants should come together as one and have a particular candidate that will face Buhari in the election. The truth of the matter is that all the candidates will be talked to in order to ensure that they step down for a sole candidate; and the parties’ candidates will be pacified to support a candidate who will be formidable against Buhari.
“If they go individually to the poll against Buhari, they will give him the position, free of charge, and he will return easily and that will be disastrous. Our essence of coming together is to oust Buhari; this must be achieved in unison. The only way to beat Buhari is through unified opposition.”
Complementing him, the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, said that other parties had been in talks with the PDP on the need to adopt a sole candidate ahead of 2019.
“As I am talking to you, we are in a meeting over the matter with other parties. And the issue of the sole candidate is one of the major things here that we are discussing. I will give you the details later,” he told our
correspondent.
Also speaking on the matter, the National Vice Chairman of the Social Democratic Party, Junaid Mohammed, hailed the move, saying, “I can tell you that we are ready to ensure Buhari’s end in office is 2019.”
