A foundation member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Osita Okechukwu, has dismissed calls by some opposition politicians for a merger to oust the ruling party.
Mr Okechukwu specifically faulted the agitation by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and a member of the Labour Party (LP), Pat Utomi, for a merger ahead of the 2027 general election.
Call for merger
Atiku, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 presidential election, has been championing the call for a coalition among the main opposition parties.
Two days ago, the former vice president, in a message to congratulate Senegalese President-Elect Bassirou Faye, urged all opposition parties to “forge a coalition that is formidable enough to oust the ruling party if the salvaging of Nigeria is to stand any chance.”
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Last year, Mr Utomi announced ongoing talks on the possibility of a merger among the parties. However, there has not been a concrete move to suggest a merger.
The situation is different from 2015
But in a statement on Sunday, Mr Okechukwu said the circumstances on the ground that will make it possible for opposition political parties to forge a formidable coalition to oust the APC like the PDP was defeated in 2015 differ remarkably.
“Secondly, dethroning an incumbent President should not be a political pastime, but as a practical political consciousness to remove an underperforming administration,” he stated.
He explained that the difference in the socioeconomic situation of Nigeria between 2015 and 2024 is clear, stressing that while in 2015, Nigeria lost focus, today, despite the socio-economic hardship, both the international and local communities agree that President Bola Tinubu’s administration has courage, vision and focus.
Mr Okechukwu stated: “Yes, my understanding is that Atiku was referring to the current socio-economic hardship, but the truth is that whether you like it or not President Tinubu has focus. In 2015, under President Goodluck Jonathan, there was little or no hope.
“Luckily, Mr President has with his economic reforms, won the confidence of the international community. All he needs is to domesticate his economic programme to benefit the greatest number of Nigerians.”
Mr Okechukwu said he believes that a formidable opposition coalition is healthy for Nigeria’s democracy, however, it is incumbent on Atiku, Utomi and others to convince Nigerians on which economic philosophy the coalition would be anchored.
“Nigerians know that all the leading presidential candidates in 2023 were all neo-liberals. For instance, like Tinubu, Atiku and Obi agreed to remove fuel subsidy and to harmonise the foreign exchange rate.
“Since they all belong to the neo-liberal school of thought and are capitalists, they better support Mr President, because the success of Tinubu’s economic reforms is better for such students more than those of us who subscribe to the belief that government has business in our welfare.”
The former director general of the Voice of Nigeria (VON) said President Tinubu acknowledges the challenges his policies are causing Nigerians.
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“There are two things going positively for President Tinubu. One is that the buy-in of the international community is high, which means that foreign direct investment which propels prosperity is guaranteed in the course of time.
“Secondly, unlike President Muhammadu Buhari, whose rising tide of expectations was high at inception on issues like anti-graft war and economic empowerment, that of Tinubu is starkly low. This is to say that not much was expected from President Tinubu from the onset. The bottom line is that he will garner local buy-in with time instead of declining expectations.”
Mr Okechukwu reminded merger canvassers to study the Senegalese opposition, recalling how in 2014, Ousmane Sonko invited his friend and fellow tax collector, Bassirou Faye, and other emergent political actors to form a political party, PASTEF.
He noted that PASTEF or Patriots of Senegal, which Sonko led, was dominated by young Senegalese with Faye serving as the Secretary-General while Sonko was the leader.
He stated: “I want to inform the former Vice President that in 2017, although PASTEF only secured one seat out of 165 in the Legislative election, in 2019, Sonko contested as the Presidential candidate, while Faye was his campaign manager.
“Then, three years later, PASTEF garnered 56 out of the 165 seats contested at the National Assembly election. The 2022 election showed that Sonko has emerged as a strong contender for the 2024 Presidential poll.
“Sonko and Faye were jailed and released by President Macky Sall less than 12 days to the election, Sonko endorsed Faye as his presidential candidate and Senegalese people joined to elect him as President.”
Mr Okechukwu said he “decided to tell the long story so as to convince Atiku, Utomi and Co, who were with us during the APC’s merger in 2013 that the formation of broad-based political coalition is not a hundred metres dash neither can it be pulled off by leaders that insist on being on the ballot.
“Finally, unlike Sonko, who yielded space for Faye to take the presidential ticket, Atiku’s breach of the rotation convention and blatant refusal to back either younger Peter Obi or Nyesom Wike; hence contested against the Southern Presidential aspirants in the 2023 poll showed that he cannot walk the talk of building strong coalition.”
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