INEC may deregister 25 more parties

 by Niyi Odebode, John Alechenu and Friday Olokor 

INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega

BARELY 72 hours after 28 political parties had their names deleted  from the register of  the Independent National Electoral Commission, indications emerged on Sunday  that 24 more political parties might cease to exist  before the 2015 general elections.

The PUNCH learnt that INEC  had  decided  that only 11 political parties  would participate  in the 2015 electoral processes. Sixty-three political parties participated in the 2011 elections.

INEC, last Thursday, had deregistered Pastor Chris Okotie’s Fresh Party; Balarabe Musa’s Peoples Democratic Party; the late Anthony Enahoro’s  National Reformation Party, Dr. Tunji Braithwaite’s  National Advanced Party  and  24 others for not meeting the provisions of Section 7 of the Electoral Act 2011.

The section states, “The commission (INEC) shall have powers to de-register political parties on the following grounds: (i) breach of any of the requirements for registration, and (ii) for failure to win a seat in the National Assembly or state Assembly election.”

Only 11, out of the parties that participated in the 2011 polls, satisfied the requirement of Section 7 of the Electoral Act by winning at least a seat in the National Assembly.

The parties  are the Peoples Democratic Party, Congress for Progressive Change, Action Congress of Nigeria, All Nigeria Peoples Party, Labour Party, Progressive Peoples Alliance, Peoples Party of Nigeria, All Progressive Grand Alliance, Accord Party, Democratic Peoples Party, and KOWA Party.

Apart from the 11, only Chief Chekwas Okorie’s United Progressive Grand Alliance, which was registered two months ago and which has not contested in any general election will be allowed to stay.

Our correspondents learnt at the weekend that INEC would wait for the conclusion of any suit occasioned by the deregistration of the 28 last week before announcing the 25 others to go.

Many of the promoters of the deregistered parties had threatened to contest   INEC’s action in court.

Commenting on  the possibility of the  deregistration of  more parties , the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC chairman, Mr. Kayode Idowu, said, “For as long as the provisions of the law subsist, they will be applied as and whenever deemed necessary by the commission. No consideration will feature outside the provisions of the law as we have them.”

Meanwhile, the National Chairman of one of the parties’ deregistered last week, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, has said Nigeria has too many political parties and that the registration of some of them is justified.

Mohammed, who headed the now defunct Peoples’ Salvation Party, said this in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents in Abuja on Sunday.

He said that while the PSP would not contest it’s deregistration in court, it would not hesitate to join others who might see the need to do so.

This, he said, was because the Chairman of the INEC, Prof. Atahiru Jega, did not base the decision to deregister the parties on provisions of the law.

Junaid said, “The parties were simply too many. Jega himself registered a few; it would have been difficult for him not to register them on resumption because the paper work had been done.

“Coming to my party, strictly speaking, I was simply tired with mine anyway because some elements were using the platform to go begging for money.

“I have no intention to challenge the decision in court but if other parties do so we will join them because Jega did not follow the rule of law.

“And without the rule of law, there is no basis for a democracy. My concern is that all of the actions of a body like INEC must be within the law.”

ThePunch

BoT chair: North’s interest tears PDP apart

by: Yusuf Alli

THE jostle for the chairmanship of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has split the organ with most members insisting on the zoning tradition of the party by allowing the North to produce the new leader.
Thirteen candidates have applied for the seat, including a former Chairman of the BOT, Chief Tony Anenih; a former National Chairman of the PDP, Senator Ahmadu Ali; ex-President of the Senate, Chief Ken Nnamani; Chief Harry Akande and Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu.
It was however learnt that some influential members of the PDP are mounting pressure on a former Vice-President, Dr. Alex Ekwueme to lead the BOT.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo vacated the seat in April.
National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh confirmed the number of interested candidates to our correspondent on telephone yesterday.
Metuh, however, could not give the names of all the candidates off hand, saying he was speaking from his village in Anambra and as such could not lay his hands on the file at the time.
“So far we have about 13 candidates on the list. I don’t have the file with me so I cannot recall all the names off hand. As a matter of fact I am speaking with you from my village in Anambra”, Metuh said.
A high-ranking member of the party yesterday said Ekwueme has not formally applied for the office.
But there were strong indications that more candidates might emerge following what a top member of the BOT as the “continuous search for an ideal candidate.”
Also, contrary to speculations, President Goodluck Jonathan has decided not to back any candidate.
Jonathan wants to leave the post open to BOT members to decide.
Investigation by our correspondent revealed that there is a split among members of the BOT with most of them insisting on the zoning tradition of the party.
A reliable top BOT member, who spoke in strict confidence yesterday, said: “Some of our leaders might have applied but it appears that we may need more leaders to signify their interest.
“I can say that the BOT is still searching for the ideal candidate because there are some variables which we still have to put into consideration.
“The position of most members is that the party must take its zoning tradition into consideration in choosing a new BOT chairman or else we may slip into a deeper crisis in the party.
“We have a tradition that anytime the North produces the President, the BOT chairman will come from the South.
“This is the zoning tradition we have adhered to since 1999. The last holder of the BOT chairmanship, ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo came from the South-West, what will be the rationale for choosing or electing a new one from the South again.
“So, you can see that we have a major zoning hurdle to cross in electing the new chairman of the BOT. The appropriate thing is for the North to produce the next BOT chairman.
“If Jonathan allows the party to abandon this tradition, we will assume that zoning is dead and this may affect the primaries for 2015 poll.”
Asked why the North will push for BOT chairman when the secretary of the board, Alhaji Wali Jibrin is from the North-Central, the source added: “Wali came in as an interim secretary. When we meet, the North will have the option to either serve as chairman or secretary.
“If the North opts for the chairman of BOT, Wali has to automatically step down.”
On the alleged intent of Ekwueme, the source said: “Some leaders of our party are pressurizing Ekwueme to lead this vital organ of the party.
“With age not on his side again, Ekwueme is actually not keen on the job. But our leaders won’t allow him to rest because of what he did to reconcile aggrieved members of the party some years ago.
Concerning the alleged anointing of one of the candidates by the President, the source said: “I am in a position to know, Jonathan has confided in some leaders of the party that he would allow democratic process to run its full course on BOT.
“The President is not backing any candidate but it is convenient for some people to drop names.”
But another source said: “You should also take note of the fact that the National Chairman of PDP is from the North-East. Do you want the North to produce the chairman of the BOT again?
“The situation is dicey. We have a tradition but this is a party that believes in equity too. I know at the right time, BOT members will iron out issues and move forward.
“I am aware that we also have a group within the BOT calling for a younger element to lead this organ of the party. I am talking of a leader who is between 60 and 65 years.”
Article 12.77 of the PDP reads in part: “The BOT shall elect a chairman and secretary from members of the Board. The chairman and secretary shall also be members of the National Executive Committee.
“Without prejudice to the provision of this Constitution, ensure that the person to be elected chairman and secretary respectively are of proven integrity and have contributed immensely to the growth of the party.
TheNation

Kidnappers make N750m monthly in Southeast, says CD

 by: Odogwu Emeka Odogwu, Nnewi and Osagie Otabor

The Campaign for Democracy (CD) yesterday alleged that kidnapping has become a big business in the Southeast, with abductors making an average of N750 million monthly.
It said abduction had increased in the region after a lull. The rights group urged governors to intervene.
The CD said the situation had made the region unsafe for industrialists and businessmen.
Chairman of CD in the Southeast Dede Ujoh A. Uzoh, in a statement, said:
“It is very depressing that notwithstanding the huge amount of money the governors of the five Southeast states collect each month, they as the chief security officers, are unable to contain the upsurge of kidnapping.
“An average of five persons are kidnapped per month in each state of the zone and they pay between N30 million and N20 million each.
“This amounts to about N150 million per month from wealthy individuals in a state, thus, totalling N750 million per month from the five states.
“There has been this massive exodus of industrialists, businessmen and women from the zone due to activities of kidnappers,’’ it said.
The statement added that the recent escalation of kidnapping is more rampant in major cities of Onitsha, Aba, Owerri, Awka, Umuahia, Enugu and Abakaliki.
“These are the cities where wealthiest people and their families live and carry out their businesses.
“This is making business and human security to collapse and the wealthy not free to move around within the zone due to fear of being kidnapped,’’ it said.
The statement urged governors to help stop the present exodus of the wealthy people; which, if not checked within some months, the economy of the zone would crumble,’’ it said.
The statement also called on mobile phone service providers to assist the police and other law enforcement agencies to track kidnappers as they use mobile phones to network their operations.
“Efforts should be made to energise the Southeast Economic Summit to revive the moribund industries in the zone; taking a cue from the South-South.
“The revival of industries has become paramount so that workplaces would be created to contain youths that would likely join these bad eggs perpetrating these heinous crime,” the CD said.
TheNation

A fast descending anarchy on Nigeria

Since he assumed office over two years ago, President Goodluck Jonathan, rightly or wrongly, has been the butt of criticisms as weak in or clueless to solving Nigeria’s myriad of problems. He, therefore, could not be luckier than now to prove his critics wrong by discharging his constitutional responsibilities. Tied down in the North with the Boko Haram insurgency, it is not clear if Jonathan is abreast with the state of insecurity in the entire South over uncontrollable cases of kidnapping and attendant anger of the ordinary citizen. Owing to the helplessness and inaction of state governors, kidnapping has now, overnight, boomed as a growth industry for extorting millions of naira for the release of the victims. Even after extorting such, the kidnappers still kill their victims.
Consequently, at the mere mention of security or insecurity, instant blame is heaped on President Jonathan. Oh yes, overall security in the country is the main but not the sole responsibility of a Nigerian President any more than overall responsibility in the United States rests with the White House in Washington. But then, in such situation, the President (in our own case, Jonathan) is no more than the supreme co-ordinator, with initial responsibility devolving on state governors and down the line to local government chairmen or in United States, the city mayors. This fact is essential in view of the anarchy gradually descending on every state (thirty-six of them) with the governors unwilling and unable to arrest the situation on the convenient and circumstantial excuse that they (the governors) do not control the police. Consequently, the situation in the country today is that crimes of murder, arson, armed robbery and kidnapping mostly resulting in death are committed on free will by the culprits.
These crimes have become so routine that newspapers no longer allot their front pages to such reports and where they do, the reports are completely compressed into second or third insignificant space in the front page or otherwise now tucked in the inside pages. The latest in the banditry of these criminals was the widespread rampage in Auchi, Edo State, which was an irony. An irony in the sense that among the 36 state governors, only Adams Oshiomhole has displayed the guts that he would sign the death warrant of any convict of capital punishment. Oshiomhole knows better. Not long ago, his Special Assistant, Olaitan Oyerinde was murdered by criminals inside his house. It is not tenable for state governors to excuse themselves from responsibility for near total insecurity on the ground that they do not control the police, or that state commissioners of police always insist on clearance from their boss, Inspector-General before carrying out any order directed by a state governor.
Whenever a state Commissioner of Police insists on clearance from his boss, Inspector-General at Abuja before carrying out an order of a state governor, it is usually because such orders are controversial or dicey, in most cases tainted with the governor’s political interest. It is only reasonable for a Commissioner of Police to be cautious in such situations. Such will not apply in all matters concerning detection or arresting of crimes like kidnapping or armed robbery, as may be directed by a state governor because on the contrary, the main duty of state governors through state commissioners of police is the maintenance of security. On his part, the president’s (Goodluck Jonathan) duty on security matters is to guard against or repel any external aggression or suppress any domestic insurgency such as Boko Haram’s. Today, Nigeria is not facing any threat of external aggression.
Boko Haram is being contained through security forces like the army and police. Hence, governors of states under siege by Boko Haram are not being blamed. Tackling Boko Haram insurgency is taking time but nobody can deny the fact of containing the misguided elements. The same cannot be said of murder, armed robbery, kidnapping etc. The responsibility for combating these crimes is that of state governors and not Jonathan’s. When last time the wife of Deputy Speaker of Osun State House of Assembly was kidnapped, Osun State government assumed responsibility for alerting the nation until some patriots in nearby Ogun State nabbed the kidnappers and their victim. But has there been any action since then? Failure of state governors to take drastic punitive action in such cases is the very reason the crime of kidnapping has been on the rise in recent months.
The consequent threatening anarchy is the fault of state governors and state Commissioners of Police. Yet, there are existing laws stipulating death penalty for armed robbery and even kidnapping. At least Rivers, Ebonyi and Enugu states have passed laws carrying death penalty for kidnapping. Such law is not for President Goodluck Jonathan to enforce. That is the duty of state governors. Where a state governor fails or is unwilling to enforce laws on security of lives and property, especially federal laws, such governor would be vulnerable to charges of dereliction of duty, in clear violation of the oath of office to which he swore to be eligible to assume office.
In the present state of lawlessness on account of armed robbery and kidnapping in most parts of the country, Jonathan should assume charge. For example, armed robbery and financial crimes largely committed in the states are now federal offences under federal laws. Such federal laws were enacted because state governments were weak and unwilling to tackle the crimes. With the existing federal law on armed robbery stipulating death penalty, Jonathan should equally seriously consider a bill to make kidnapping punishable by death. Such a bill will not generate controversy either at home or abroad. Foreigners in our midst have been easy targets for these kidnappers. In many cases, Russians, Britons, Italians, Filipinos, had been killed by these kidnappers even after collecting the ransom running into millions of naira, much to the embarrassment of Nigerian government. In any case, it is an international obligation for any country to guarantee the safety of not only its citizens but also the security of foreigners in the host country. Why is a federal law necessary for kidnapping?
The crime, which began on a seeming restricted scale in only some parts of the country, has now spread to virtually every part of Nigeria. Furthermore, the existing law of some three or four states carrying death penalty for kidnapping has turned out to be mere decorations in the statutes of the states concerned. A federal law carrying death penalty for kidnapping will provide security throughout the federation against the criminals. Relatives of members of the National Assembly had also fallen victims of the kidnappers. It is therefore in their interest to allow smooth sail for the proposed bill into law. At that stage, no state governor will allow kidnappers free rein. Such a law against kidnapping should not be a licence for police to shoot suspects dead. Dead suspects will serve no purpose or lesson. Instead, suspects should be subjected to full criminal procedure of law courts throughout which they will experience the rigour, agony and eventually reject, when sentenced to death.
That will deter other potential kidnappers. The death warrant of any convict facing death penalty even under federal offence, is signed by state governors and not the President of Federal Republic of Nigeria. It is a constitutional responsibility devolving on state governors. Afterall, Jonathan does not sigh the death warrant of convicted armed robbers. A state governor may feel strongly against signing the death warrant of convicted armed robbers or kidnappers. While maintaining such principle, the state governor concerned should be prepared for the consequences by resigning since the society cannot be thrown into anarchy because a state governor refuses to perform his constitutional duties. Governors are responsible for security in their states.
Where insecurity persists and threatens law and order, which may eventually engulf the whole country, President Jonathan has the constitutional responsibility to declare a state of emergency in the state(s) concerned, suspend the governor for six months and extend the emergency for another six months if necessary. By the time two or three state governors are so alerted on their dereliction of constitutional duties, others will sit up. A year or two ago, we were not under this threat of anarchy by kidnappers and armed robbers.
Accordingly, unless tackled frontally, these criminals will convulse the nation. Then, the man to be blamed is President Goodluck Jonathan and not any of the state governors. At what stage will Jonathan adequately assess the threat posed by these criminals? So far, state commissioners, university vice-chancellors and even Chairman of Lagos State chapter of Nigerian Union of Journalists had been kidnapped. Never mind any claim of improved economy or inflow of foreign investment.
These are mere illusions. Only a failed, as distinct from a stable state, allows anarchists to thrive. Insecurity and foreign investment are perpetual and uncompromising enemies. When next the Council of States gathers, President Jonathan must confront the state governors with his obligation to invoke his constitutional responsibility to ensure law and order in any of the state currently under siege of armed robbers and kidnappers creating doubts on the existence of governance in the states concerned.
TheSun

To Hell with Hell

By Femi Aribisala
Pull Quote: Sooner, rather than later, hell will disappear forever from the English bible.
Jesus says: “It is written in the prophets, ‘and they shall all be taught by God.’” (John 6:45).  However, new believers are not allowed to be taught by God.  They are quickly indoctrinated in churches where the fear of God is often taught by the commandment of men. (Isaiah 29:13).  As a result, they read the scriptures with minds already made up.  They start their walk with Christ with assumptions and presumptions that have nothing to do with the word of God.
A prime example is the bogus Christian concept of hell.  The idea of God torturing sinners in a fiery furnace for eternity is a staple diet in Christendom.  However, it is completely without true biblical foundation.  The concept was developed long after the bible was compiled essentially as a manipulative devise for populating the churches.  It was then extrapolated into the scriptures by bible translators 1600 years later.
The word hell itself had nothing to do originally with a place of torment.  It came from the anglo-saxon words “helle” which means “a hidden place;” and “helan” which means “to cover or conceal.”  Thus, something that covers the head is a “helmet.”  “Helliers” “helled a building” by roofing it. Farmers “put potatoes in hell” by burying them in the ground to preserve them in winter.  This original meaning was then corrupted by Roman Catholics into a place of fiery eternal torture controlled by demons.
Hellish distortions
English bible writers indiscriminately translated four different Hebrew and Greek words as “hell,” even though they have different meanings and refer to different things.  The first is the Hebrew word “sheol,” which simply means a place that is unseen.  Sheol is not exclusively a place of punishment.  Faithful Jacob went to sheol. (Genesis 37:35).  Righteous Job pleaded to go to sheol. (Job 14:13).  David spoke of going to sheol. (Psalm 49:15).  Even Jesus went to sheol. (Psalm 16:10).
“Hades” is the Greek equivalent of sheol that is also confusingly mistranslated as hell in the English bible.  It refers primarily to what is unseen to the natural eye in the grave.  Hades is not a place of eternal torment.  “Abraham’s bosom,” where righteous Lazarus was carried when he died, was in hades. (Luke 16:23).  When Jesus died on the cross, he went to hades. (Acts 2:27-31).  Hades is also used with reference to national judgments.  Jesus said Capernaum would go down into hades; meaning it would be destroyed. (Matthew 11:23).
The Greek word, “tartarus,” is also confusingly mistranslated as “hell” in the English bible.  The word is used in Greek fiction to denote a temporary prison for fallen angels.  It is not applied to human-beings in scripture, and says nothing about the eternal fire and torment commonly associated with the Christian hell. (2 Peter 2:4).
Lastly, the word “Gehenna” is also mistranslated as hell in the English bible.  This is by far the most idiotic mistranslation of all.  Gehenna is actually a valley on the outskirts of Jerusalem which operated as a dump for incinerating refuse.  This means it did not need to be translated at all.  Other areas in the vicinity of Jerusalem, such as Gethsemane and Calvary are not translated.  So why have a different rule for Gehenna?
On eleven occasions when Jesus referred specifically to Gehenna, it was changed in the English bible to hell.  But there is nothing to suggest Gehenna refers to is anything other than the valley outside Jerusalem.  Jesus warned those living in the environs of Jerusalem that, unless they repented, their city would be destroyed imminently with their dead bodies dumped in Gehenna.  That is exactly what happened in AD 70, as the historical record confirms.
Imagine me telling people in Lagos that if they are not careful, they will end up in Kirikiri; a notorious prison island.  Then translators decide to change my “kirikiri” to “hell.”  Would you consider this a faithful translation?  Of course, people who lived far away from Jerusalem probably would not have known what Gehenna was, any more than people in Jerusalem would know about Kirikiri.  But the truth is that Jesus did not threaten any Gentile with the prospect of Gehenna if he did not repent.  Gehenna only has relevance for people living in Jerusalem at a certain time some two thousand years ago.
None of the mistranslated hell passages in the bible say anyone of our day can go to the Christian hell.   None of them says Satan’s domain is hell, according to popular Christian folklore.  Though they speak of men being killed and destroyed in Gehenna, none of them speaks of men being tormented there.  In short, Gehenna is not the Christian hell and should never have been translated as such.
Hell fiction
Nobody in the bible was ever threatened with eternal torment as Christians are today by pastors.  God forgot to mention it to Adam and Eve.  Cain killed his brother Abel, but was not threatened with it. (Genesis 4:11-12).  Sinners were destroyed by the flood without any warning of endless torment.  Nothing was said about it to the sinners of Sodom and Gomorrah and Nineveh.  Nothing was said because the Christian hell does not exist.  It is essentially the product of the evil imagination of men.
Moses threatened the Israelites with every conceivable punishment if they disobeyed God, but completely forgot to mention hell.  No disciple of Jesus preached about it.  Not once is it mentioned in Paul’s thirteen epistles.  There is nothing in the scriptures about fiery ovens, bowls of hot oil or torture racks.  However, such graphic details are readily found in such Christian folklores as Milton’s “Paradise Lost” and Dante’s “Inferno.”  They are also the subject of countless Hollywood horror movies.
If we are tempted to use Jesus’ parable of the rich man and Lazarus as indicative of the existence of hell, let us recall that this took place in hades; a temporal grave.  Jesus says: “The hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth- those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.” (John 5:28-29).
Jesus does not indicate how long this resurrection of condemnation will take.  But it cannot be eternal because of scriptures indicating there will be a restitution of all things. (Acts 3:21).  At the end of time, every knee will bow in worship to God. (Isaiah 45:23).  God is love: he is not hate.  It is his mercy, and not his judgment, that endures forever. (Psalm 118:1).  Today’s believers are merely the “first-fruits” of salvation.  In the ages to come, God promises to return and rebuild the tabernacle of David: “so that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord.” (Acts 15:16-17).
Christians should not persist in an illogical faith.  We cannot insist the penalty for sins is eternal damnation, and then say Jesus paid the penalty for our sins.  Jesus did not spend eternity in hades.  He was only there for three days.  Therefore, the growing trend in the more modern translations including King James indicates that sooner, rather than later, hell will disappear forever from the English bible.  Hell will go to hell; which is where it truly belongs.
Vanguard

2015: Opposition Parties ‘ll Conclude Merger Talks In 2013 – Shekarau

 TONY AMOKEODO

The claim of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) to rule forever will be put to test as  leading opposition parties, including  the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) may conclude merger talks in April 2013.
Former Kano State Governor Ibrahim Shekarau disclosed this during an interactive session with some select journalists in Abuja on Saturday.
Shekarau is the chairman of 21-man committee of the ANPP  mandated to reposition the party in terms of bringing in  both new members and funding.
The committee was also saddled with the responsibility of ensuring that aggrieved ANPP members were brought back to the party.
The Shekarau committee was also directed to discuss merger talks with other opposition parties.
According to him, the opposition parties have started the merger talks in good time in order to avoid the mistakes of what happened in 2011.
He added that the desire of the stakeholders was to have a single formidable opposition party to challenge the dominance of the PDP in 2015 general polls and not to go into alliances.
Commenting on the ongoing merger talks, “Our party (ANPP) has made it very clear to the ACN and the CPC that we are committed to total merger and nothing else. We have had alliances in the past. We want to reach an understanding that in the end, we will dissolve into one entity because we have studied all the experiences right from the First Republic.
 “Ninety per cent of the alliances entered into from the First Republic till date has not really worked. We believe as we progress in these discussions, more parties in the opposition will come on board. But these three main opposition parties have it in writing. The three parties have exchanged letters of interest among themselves. A lot of processes are involved,” he said.
This, in a nutshell, is what this committee is out to do. We have been given six months to do all of these.
When reminded that conflict of interest affected the alliance of the opposition parties in 2011, Shekarau responded that the parties were committed to make the merger talks work on the grounds that there was the need to give a dynamic government to the people.
He said, “I think there is a fundamental difference between the period you are talking about in 2011 and now. There are two fundamental reasons that make them different. In 2011, we started late. The second reason is that negotiations started after all the parties have already held their congresses.
 “They already had their presidential candidates on ground. That was part of what really made it difficult. There was the argument of who was going to step down for whom. Even if I wanted to step down for another person, I didn’t have that freedom because it was not a personal mandate since primaries had already been conducted before the negotiations started.
 “Again, our parties had already submitted names of candidates to INEC. When you merge, it is beyond the national election. When you merge, what do you do with the gubernatorial candidates in a state like Kano? These were not part of the discussions.
 “In the end, we told ourselves, look, let us talk to ourselves sensibly. Another factor then was that we had only some weeks to go to the elections. What assurance do you have to adequately enlighten the electorate on their new identity? The candidates were all scared. These were all the difficulties. We agreed that after the elections, then we can start. If we are able to finish within the next six months, we will then have more than two years to sell our new identity to the public. These were the fundamental reasons that scuttled the previous one. It is 50 per cent solved already”.
 Leadership

ACN, ANPP, CPC to form new party in 2013

 by Olusola Fabiyi 

Buhari, Tinubu and Onu

THREE  major opposition political parties   -  Action Congress of Nigeria, Congress for Progressive Change and the All Nigeria Peoples Party  – may drop their identities by April 2013, when talks  on  their proposed merger are expected to be completed.

The merger of the parties  is  one of the strategies being canvassed by some  politicians to defeat the ruling Peoples Democratic Party which has dominated power since the advent of the present democracy in 1999.

Analysts are of the opinion that any genuine and honest cooperation among opposition parties for the 2015 general elections could make the election tough for the PDP.

The  Chairman of the ANPP National Rebuilding and Interparty Contact Committee, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, told journalists in Abuja on Sunday, that the merger talks between the three ACN, CPC  and ANPP had reached the last stage.

 Shekarau, a   former Governor of Kano State, added that the chieftains of the three  parties had decided to forget their individual ambitions to make the fusion a success.

He  said  that  the leaders had realised that an alliance between the three parties would not work and that it was better for them to merge.

The ANPP  chieftain  said, “Certainly, we are going to submit our party certificates to the Independent National Electoral Commission after our merger. That is what a merger means. The Electoral Law is so clear on the procedure for a merger.

“If we decide to merge, the next thing is that we go back to our parties, call National Executive Committee meeting, and discuss with the members, in the presence of INEC officials. Then, you can call congress and that is all.”

He said that both the ANPP and the ACN were not new to mergers.

Shekarau said, “We have passed through this before when we were All Peoples Party and then Action Congress too, before it became ACN.

“The difference now is to pass a resolution and all this will be simultaneously done (by the three parties) and we will inform INEC about it. When that is done, INEC has no choice than to register your new identity.”

In the alternative, he said the parties might decide to adopt the name of one of the existing political parties while the remaining two would dissolve into the adopted one.

The other two options, according to him, are to “take a symbol, a flag and any other identity  from the parties so that every party will have a sense of belonging  or all of us will just forget our identity.”

Asked if the parties had learnt any lesson from their failed ambition to merge in 2011, Shekarau said ‘Yes’. But added that one of the reasons was that they started the process late.

He said, “We started late then. In fact, the negotiation  started  when all the political parties already had their presidential candidates and had finished their congresses.

“That was what made it difficult. Who among the candidates   would  you  have expected to step down?

“Arguments came for example, that I had won the presidential primary of the ANPP. Out of the 3,000 delegates, I had 2,500 votes or thereabout. Now, sitting down in a room with about 10 people and I say I’m stepping down for you, it is no longer my personal mandate.

“What do you do with the people who stood in the rain and sun, slept in the bus, on the roadside and overnight. And again, our party had already submitted names of persons to INEC and when you merge, it would be beyond national election.

“What do you do with other elections like governorship elections, where each political party had their candidates?

“The CPC, ACN, and ANPP all had their candidates for other elective positions. These candidates had spent money, canvassed for votes and all that. That was why we said let all the parties go for elections.”

The former presidential candidate said all the political parties had agreed that the electoral ambitions of party members must not feature during their discussion.

 “We are all coming to the table on equal terms. Whoever has any ambition is with his political party and not ours now. We are all talking on the same level. None of these parties has any candidates for any elective office for now. We can only talk about former candidates,” Shekarau said.

The National Publicity Secretaries of the CPC and ACN, Mr. Rotimi Fashakin and Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on Sunday confirmed what Shekarau said.

 Both Fashakin and Mohammed said their parties were committed to the merger and that the modalities were being worked out.

They said their plan was to form a stronger political party that would be capable of sacking the PDP.

Fashakin said, “Yes, we are ready to lose our identity for the sake of the bigger party that is capable of sacking the PDP.

“My National Chairman, Prince Tony Momoh, has said it several time that he is ready to lose his position as well. I’m also ready for that, if that will enable us form a party that will be big enough to confront and remove the PDP from the central government.”

Mohammed said, “ACN is committed to getting a single platform of all opposition political parties that will drive the PDP out of power.”

On whether the ACN was also ready to lose its identity, he said “All I can tell you is that the modalities are being worked out. And we are committed to it.”

ThePunch