2015: ACN/CPC merger leaders reach out to IBB, Atiku •APGA splits

2015: ACN/CPC merger leaders reach out to IBB, Atiku •APGA splits




by Olawale Rasheed, Abuja 




THE merger plan among opposition political parties has taken a new dimension with reports that leaders of the opposition are already taking their case to some leading members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party. Reliable findings within the opposition movement showed that nocturnal contacts have been made with the political camp of former military president, Ibrahim Babangida who had announced his retirement from partisan politics.

Also reportedly contacted was the political camp of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar whom the opposition leaders allegedly believed has been plotted against going by the recent election of Alhaji Bamanga Tukur as the national chairman of the ruling party. While it was not clear whether Atiku Abubakar has been directly approached, Sunday Tribune was told that some opposition leaders had for some time been working on resolving the personality clash between Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Atiku Abubakar as a prelude for getting the former vice president into the coalition.

The former vice president was however said to be uninterested in joining any anti-PDP coalition even as it was learnt that a level of success was recorded in the reconciliation efforts. Insiders within the camp of the former vice president said the Adamawa politician was still hopeful of making headway within the PDP even as many of his key allies are said to be warning against Turaki`s laying his hope on the PDP in 2015. “There is a division within the house. Many want Turaki to abandon the ship and join the grand coalition. Others urged him to retain his trust and support for president Goodluck Jonathan,” a close confidant of the politician said.

Further investigations however revealed that the former number two citizen still believed that the emergence of Tukur as party chairman had nothing to do with his aspiration even as many of his supporters are clamoring for a run into the emerging grand coalition. Spokesman of Atiku Campaign Organization, Mallam Garba Sheu when contacted told Sunday Tribune that the former Vice President remained a bonafide, loyal member of the PDP, adding “we remain in PDP.” The situation within the Babangida camp is however slightly different especially as the former leader has officially announced exit from politicking unlike vice president Abubakar who is still active in the field.

As at the last count, more than three bigwigs of the Babangida camp have crossed into the ACN especially in the southern part of the country. This is in addition to the spokesman of the Minna General, Kashim Afegbua who is now in the frontline of campaign for the re-election of Governor Adams Oshiomhole. It was however gathered that despite the recent defections, the former leader has not directed his loyalists to join the emerging coalition. Sources within the opposition however reconfirmed that contacts have been made with the Babangida group and that some strategic networking is ongoing as the coalition talks progress. “We have contacted the General and we are having progress. We are reaching out to all well meaning Nigerians,” a CPC leader from Enugu state confided in the Sunday Tribune.

APGA splits over merger
While the merger leaders are reaching out to some leaders of the PDP, fresh reports are emerging of a rift within the All Progressive Grand Alliance on the proposed merger of leading opposition parties against the ruling party in 2015. The South East caucus of the party heavily influenced by the Anambra State governor, Peter Obi, is said to be opposed to the anti-PDP coalition while the northern wing of the party is said to be favorably disposed to the coalition. It was learnt that party leaders within the South East saw APGA as an Igbo political party with network support provided for it by the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra, a position being disputed by the northern wing of the party.

Igbo wing of the party was said to have insisted on a silent agreement between South East and South South leaders which led to massive support for president Goodluck Jonathan in the 2011 poll and which many are hoping to repeat in the 2015 polls. Leaders of both ACN and CPC in the South East are however said to be working hard to convince their brothers within APGA to join the alliance, an effort that has so far yielded no result. The failure of the effort was reported to have led to an emerging division within the party which saw the northern wing of the party led by the party`s National Secretary, Sani Shinkafi to publicly announce the decision of the 19 northern states to join the merger even without waiting for a decision of the party`s national executive committee.

Meanwhile, the All Nigerian Peoples Party has urged a low profile approach to the ongoing merger talk among the opposition political parties for the effort to achieve desired results. National Publicity Secretary of the party, Chief Emma Enekwu who spoke with Sunday Tribune over the issue noted that the party does not believe any noise should be made about the merger talk especially in view of past experiences in alliance talk among opposition parties. “We are not opposed to the merger talks but we are not given to so much noise being made about it, he said. “Merger is not a child’s play,” he said, adding that “a lot of work still needs to be done if we are to achieve success on this project.”

It would be recalled that ANPP had in the past entered into a government of national unity agreement with the ruling party ,a development that forced the national leader of the Congress for Progressive Change, Muhammad Buhari to quit the party.