Mega Party Formation Runs Into Hitches

A few days after its birth, mega opposition party, the All Progressive Congress, is battling with an internal crisis that is threatening its existence, it was learnt.

It was gathered that the four parties that came together to form the APC had yet to agree on the symbol to be embossed on the new party’s logo.

It was also learnt that moves to share positions among the four constituent parties on Thursday night were stalled by the crisis that had hit one of the merger partners, the All Progressive Grand Alliance.

Besides APGA, other parties in the APC are the Congress for Progressive Change, the Action Congress of Nigeria and the All Nigeria Peoples Party.

Investigations by one of our correspondents in Abuja on Friday, showed that while some APC members favoured the broom as the party’s symbol, others insisted that the corn and a pen should be added to the symbol.

While the broom is the symbol of the ACN, the corn and pen are the symbols of both the ANPP and the CPC respectively.

Originally, the adopted symbol was meant to be presented at a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday where the new name of the party was unveiled.

The disagreement among the leaders was said to have thwarted the planned presentation.

A member of the merger committee of one of the political parties, said the majority of the members favoured the broom, which he said could be found in any part of the country.

The party member, who pleaded anonymity said, “We were to unveil the logo at the briefing but we were yet to agree on the symbol to be used.

“Some of us said we should go for the broom because of its popularity among the people but others were saying that we should also add the corn and the pen.

“This disagreement made us shelve the idea, because having the three symbols is capable of confusing our supporters.”

A former governorship candidate of the CPC in Enugu State, Mr. Osita Okechukwu, told SUNDAY PUNCH that it was true that no agreement had been reached on the symbol to be adopted.

“Yes, it is true that we had a little discussion, because I won’t call it a disagreement, on the symbol to be used. We will soon arrive at an acceptable one that would be loved by all,” he said.

On the sharing of party offices, Okechukwu said that was not discussed before the merger.

“We know that if the politicians fail to do it, the military may be tempted to do it. So, what do we do? We decided, based on patriotism, to come together and forget our individual ambitions in order to rescue our nation,” he added.

Meanwhile, the  chairmen of all the merger committees of the four political parties are to meet on Monday.

The chairmen are Mr. Tom Ikimi (ACN), Sen. Annie Okonkwo (APGA), Mr. Garba Sadi (CPC) and Mr. Ibrahim Shekarau (ANPP).

The chairmen will discuss the setting up of committees on constitution/ideology, strategy, manifesto harmonisation and also the sharing of party offices.

The result of the discussion of the four chairmen will then be taken to the leadership of the four parties for approval.

Okechukwu said the leaders of the parties were positive that the merger would be accepted by the four parties.

“We may have problems in APGA because of the different factions in the party, but we have told its leadership to either join the progressive train now or be left out,” he said.

The National Secretary of APGA, Mr. Sani Shinkafi, had said his party was not invited to the negotiating table by the proponents of the merger.

“APGA did not receive any invitation to partake in the merger talks and therefore was unaware of the merger,” he said.

Also, APGA in Abia state on Saturday disassociated itself from the merger.

APGA leader and its governorship candidate in the 2011 general election in the state, Mr. Reagan Ufomba, in  an electronic mail to one of our correspondents said, “APGA has a strong support base in the electoral system and as such does not require un-branding or dis-membership and/or banding together of political parties to win elections.”

Investigations by our correspondents showed that a former governor of Anambra State, Sen. Chris Ngige, moved the motion for the invitation of APGA into the merger talks.

A meeting of all merger committees of the four political parties involved in the process was scheduled for Thursday night in Abuja, but was suspended to enable APGA to sort out its internal crisis.

A prominent figure in the merger committee, told one of our correspondents that the meeting was put on hold to “tie all loose ends.”

Pleading anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, he said, “We suspended our final decision on the sharing of offices in the new government which we will form in 2015, to allow APGA sort itself out.

“We don’t want a situation where one party will come up to say a position given to it was not agreeable after a decision has been taken.

“As you know, Governor Rochas Okorocha has been attending our meetings but he has a problem with Governor Peter Obi and the whole thing is tearing the party apart.

“The party has been given this weekend to deal with the issues and report back. As we speak, governors involved with the merger are talking to both of them.

“The party logo will be unveiled on Wednesday or Thursday next week after which a final decision on the sharing of positions will be taken.”

When asked what criteria the sharing of positions would be based on, the source said, “Merit, fairness, equity and balance.

“We must commend the ACN for its large heart. It agreed to come into the merger with an open mind.

“We all agreed not to approach the merger with a mindset of it’s either I get this position or nothing. We all agreed to put Nigeria first before our ambitions.

“However, only parties which joined the merger at this point will share in these offices.”

The source also said the parties had been asked to nominate members who would form the Interim Management Committee of the APC.

Meanwhile, the presidency has said the  emergence of the new party does not pose any threat to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party.

Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Ahmed Gulak, made the position of the presidency known in an interview with one of our correspondents.

Gulak said the ruling party was up to the task that might be posed by the new party and its founders, ahead of the 2015 elections.

He said, “The new party is not a threat to us. It is not a threat to the PDP. In fact, the PDP welcomes the development.

“The PDP welcomes anything that will make all political parties in the country have a true national outlook.”