National chairman of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, yesterday said mass defection would hit the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) once the All Progressives Congress (APC) takes off.
He added that some members of the PDP had contacted him on APC, signifying their willingness to join the new party as soon as it is registered by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).?
Onu, who disclosed this to newsmen in Abuja, however, added that the APC was in a hurry to sort all technical issues required of the merger before the election period gets too close, noting “that is why in the past all these efforts failed.”
Reacting to concerns that the merger would fail, Onu said “at this level the party has not been registered with INEC so there are many hurdles but because Nigerians want it and because the voice of the people is the voice of God, we are very optimistic that we would succeed even though other efforts in the past failed.
‘‘Some people in the PDP have already contacted some of us that they will be willing to come and work with us. So we are going to have many people leaving the PDP to work with us. Some may even be there and still work with us, even though we won’t encourage that, we prefer their coming out. So we are very optimistic that we will win.”
Speaking on the sub-committees assigned to draft a constitution for the party, he said: “I believe that with the two weeks given to them, and with the commitment and enthusiasm they have exhibited as they continue to meet, they will do very well. Don’t forget that if they don’t complete their work they can ask for extension of time. Don’t forget we are in a hurry to sort out all these matters before it gets close to the election because that is why in the past all these efforts failed’’.