ONE of the brains behind the merger that produced All Progressive Congress, APC and a former deputy governor of Jigawa State, Ibrahim Hadejia (who at a time was the state attorney general secretary to the state government), says nobody can stop an idea whose time has come adding that, by the end of November, the party would have been fully operational. Hadeja a lawyer and banker, is a member of the Board of Trustees of the All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP.
How far has the merger plan gone?
All merger activities are progressing as scheduled. The time-table and time-frames set up for the various sub committees by the main merger committee are all being met. The critical committees on party constitution and manifesto have broken up for the various parties to provide inputs into the draft constitution and they are presently harmonising same with the aim of producing the final document so we are on track.
Some of your members (ANPP) are believed to be indisposed to the process. How true is this?
I am not aware of any ANPP member that is working to scuttle the merger. We cannot all have the same level of enthusiasm and there are peculiarities within the various states. People may have reservations or fear of loss of position or influence and this is normal in any change situation, I can assure you, however, that the majority of the members of the main merger parties are anxiously awaiting the eventual amalgamation into a bigger and more dynamic political enterprise.
Some are asking why it is compulsory you must stick to the APC acronym. If you have other people fighting over the acronym,why not get another name? What’s really is so special about the acronym that you can’t let go?
I personally see nothing special about any name, after all the four merging parties are losing their original names and identities, but giving up on our chosen name without a fight will be encouraging the political mischief and chicanery that gave rise to all kinds of pretenders trooping into INEC to register APC clones. It’s apparent from the blunders and haphazard preparations for registration by these agents,that this is just a knee jerk panic reaction to the merger plan and Nigerians are now aware of the powers behind these moves.
Virtually all the merging parties have different ideologies, this gives room for scepticism on the cohabitation of these strange bed fellows?
I don’t believe that any political party in Nigeria at the moment has any identifiable ideology that binds its members together. Let’s be realistic, how many party chieftains in this country can give you a run down of their parties manifesto or ideology? Any ideology that will take us out of the mess that this country is in at the moment is fine with me and I believe I speak for the common folk that make up the bulk of our party membership. Let’s just work towards a change from the status quo, we will cross the ideology bridge when we get to it.
Already the issue of positions among the parties appear to be tearing the party apart even before the conclusion of the merging which gives credence to the fact that the merging will not last.
I am not aware that there is any tussle for positions. The criteria for the emergence of party leadership is still being worked out, but I know that the underlying principle will be strict insistence on internal party democracy for the emergence of party structures at all levels with consideration being given for certain peculiarities at the state or zonal level. You can’t argue with that. It may interest you to know that informal meetings and inter party leadership discussions are taking place all over the country.
In my state, we have had over three meetings that has led to the emergence of a harmonisation committee comprising all the merging parties with the sole aim of ensuring a smooth transition from individual components to one mega party. This is completely outside the purview of the activities of the central merger committees. The level of enthusiasm for this venture at the local level is incredible. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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