The proposed merger talks between the two leading opposition parties, Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the Congress for Progressive Change (ACN) is progressing and very soon it will be formalised.
?The two parties have been meeting at the topmost levels with a view to resurrecting the alliance that collapsed on the eve of last year’s general election. It was the CPC Presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari who made the first move when he paid a surprise visit to the National Leader of the ACN, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in Lagos.
Later, it was the turn of the former Lagos State Governor to visit Gen Buhari at his Kaduna home on his way to Kano where both attended the turbanning of the Governor of the Central Bank, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi.
Since then, there has been an increase in the political discourse between the two even as others like the Labour Party, have been showing interest.
?LEADERSHIP checks indicated that both parties were keeping it away from the public for strategic reasons. This is the position of the two parties when our correspondent spoke with some of them.
Meanwhile, the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), yesterday, said the merger with the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) was imperative for 2015 polls.
This was disclosed to LEADERSHIP by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Engr Rotimi Fashakin at the national headquarters of the in Abuja.
Fashakin said that the merger move by the party with ACN is imperative because is a unanimous view of both the ACN and CPC.
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The ACN spokesman, Alhaji Lai Mohammed said, “We are still talking and our discussions are on-going, when it is time to make it known to the public it would be done. But for now, what I can tell you is that the talks are ongoing. We do not want to play into the hands of the enemies of the alliance but I can tell you that there is hope for this nation. This is because we have learnt from the last experience and this time around we are getting it right.”
Another National Officer of the party who expressed the same view was the National Secretary, Senator Lawan Shuaibu, who sought for patience from the media.
?According to him, the goal of the political talk is in the interest of the people, especially the country but “It is not yet time to make it a media issue, when we get to the bridge we will cross it.”
Although we could not get the spokesman of the CPC, Engineer Yinka Odumakin to comment but another official of the party expressed optimism that come 2015 the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) would cease to be the ruling party in the country. He argued that the ordeal of the populace under the yoke of the PDP was the catalyst that keeps the talk going.
“Our people are fed up with the maladministration of PDP, the party has failed the nation, you know what is happening with the pension fund, you are aware of the looting going on in the government with the shocking revelations going on in the National Assembly, all these are making us see the need to sacrifice whatever it takes to wrestle power from these people come 2015,” he said.
Investigations show that since the Electoral Act did not encourage merger or fusion, one party would be adopted while the others would be asked to move en masse to the adopted party and this would give them the nation-wide spread and the national convention would now be held where the national officers would be shared among all the stakeholders.