Independent Newspapers: Strong indications that the 2019 general elections will not be an easy ride for the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) emerged on Monday as fifteen out of about forty political parties in the country formed a new coalition with the aim of taking over the nation’s seat of power.
The group, Coalition for a New Nigeria (CNN), which held its inaugural meeting at Stone Age Hotel, Central Area Abuja, is made up of the Labour Party (LP), National Conscience Party (NCP), Democratic People’s Party (DPP), African Democratic Congress (ADC) and National Action Council (NAC).
Others are Progressive People Alliance (PPA), People for Democratic Change (PDC), Democratic Alternative (DA), Better Nigeria Peoples Party (BNPP), Action Alliance (AA), United Democratic Party (UDP), Peoples Party of Nigeria (PPN), Alliance for Democracy (AD), Youth Democratic Party (YDP) and Mega Progressives Peoples Party (MPPP).
Independent sources gathered that the meeting had in attendance the national chairmen and at least five of the National Working Committee (NWC) members of each of the parties, including Abdulkadir Abdulsalam, the LP chairman, Dr Yunusa Tanko, the NPC helmsman, Rev. Olusegun Peters of DPC, and Barrister Kenneth Udeze, the AA National Chairman, among several others.
According to a source, who confided the details of the meeting to Independent, “the mood was very reassuring as this has been the alternative opposition the masses have been waiting for considering the failure of the APC and PDP leadership in the past and present.
“The APC and born again PDP, or whatever name so-called, are already shaking over our coalition as several attempts have been made to woo our leadership for merger talks, which we vehemently refused, considering the fact that the duo of APC and PDP are like infectious disease that affect anything that comes close to it unless well treated.”
The source added that the consummation of the coalitions followed months of consultations across the country and along party lines, as it is believed strongly that the nation’s democracy cannot yield the needed dividends for the benefit of the masses, without a serious coalition of like-minded political parties with similar goals and objectives.
Barrister Udeze, the Action Alliance National Chairman, who emerged as the coalition’s Legal Adviser, while responding to Independent enquiries, confirmed the consummation of the coalition, adding, “The coalition is very solid and ready to take over power come 2019 as many stakeholders are seriously reaching out to us for electoral alliance.
“We are ready to provide a joint presidential ticket to a candidate with positive track records and integrity and ready to duplicate same across the states. The choice of leadership and candidates cannot pose any problem to the coalition because that has been handled over months of constructive discussions among the parties in the coalition.
“Ours is to form Government of National Unity (GNU) at the centre and Government of State Unity (GSU) at the state or regional level.”
Udeze informed that already, the coalition has elected Alhaji Abdulkadir Abdulsalam, the LP National Chairman, as its chairman, Rev Peter as the treasurer, as well as two others who, he said, will serve in the executive committee.
Rev. Peter, the DPC National Chairman, also vowed that the coalition would sweep away the APC from Aso Rock, even as he condemned what he called the poor leadership and several socio-economic challenges confronting the country.
He told Independent that it was inappropriate for the citizens to continue to endure hardship in the midst of plenty, stressing that the challenges facing the people necessitated the need to advocate for a new system that would lead to a new Nigeria.
He said: “What is happening now and before since our democracy started is not right. The coalition is to recreate the system that will work. That is why it is for us and for everybody. We want to recreate the system that will work.
“We will talk about where we want to go and how to build the new Nigeria we want. So, let us focus on the new Nigeria we want to build because we need Nigerians to know.”
Abdulsalam, the LP National Chairman and chairman of the coalition, told Independent that the CNN is collectively committed to supporting a new government in the next general election, adding that it would help to address incompetence in government to overcome challenges of education, security and power.
He stressed that the coalition would first prioritise reconciliation of agitating groups and de-emphasise money politics, even as he stated that it would not work with any other political party, whether APC or PDP, but would present credible candidates for 2019 general elections.
On a possible merger, Abdulsalam stressed: “We have not contemplated merger and we are not contemplating it yet. Each one remains independent of its own political party. But, our effort is to collectively support a new government for 2019 at the centre.”
He restated that the parties would remain independent, while maintaining their followership across the country.
He said that the parties had the same fundamental ideologies, stressing that the coalition already made lots of consultations and meetings before its final decision, adding, “We have the capacity that we can do it. We have the effrontery and the courage.”
