Is This Possible Buhari, Tinubu under pressure to drop ambitions

OPPOSITION parties coming together to transform into the All Peoples Congress (APC) would completely lose their identity once the merger is sealed. The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) which was initially opposed to the idea, disclosed to the Nigerian Tribune on Sunday that it was ready to completely morph into the new entity from top to bottom. The party had earlier said it would only be a part of the emerging mega-party only for the sake of the presidential election but its spokesperson, Lai Mohammed said yesterday that everything the party had would disappear into the merger, including its name, logo etc. Alhaji Mohammed who is also the National Publicity Secretary of the party, also expressed optimism that the party was sure that the three separate committees set up by the APC to write its constitution, manifesto and produce its logo and motto would deliver their mandate in the next few days. The committees, which were set up by Chief Tom Ikimi last week in Abuja, were given two weeks to report back to the party with Mohammed saying, “We expect them to turn in their reports in two weeks as mandated, we have no doubt about that.” The party’s spokesperson said it was certain that the ACN, together with other parties in the merger — the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP), Congress for Progressives Congress (CPC) and All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) — would all lose their separate identity once the Independent National ElectoralCommission (INEC) approved and registered APC. He confirmed that the separate parties would soon hold their national conventions to seek endorsement of the merger into APC from their membershipand, thereafter, forward letters to that effect to the INEC. According to him, the letters, which he said would be signed by the parties’ national officers, including chairmen, secretaries and treasurers, as demanded by the Electoral Law, would be forwarded to the commission, accompanied by the parties’ constitutions, manifestos, logos, among others, asking for merger into APC. He, however, said until INEC approved and registered the APC, each of the parties in the merger, including the ACN, would still be operating under its existing name. Mohammed, while commenting further, noted that the ACN and any other party did not have any problem with APGA, saying “we have no problem with APGA so far.” According to him, the principle behind the merger indicated that parties, individuals or groups could come together for the purpose, expressing the belief that APGA would be able to resolve its problem soon. Meanwhile, lawyers have disclosed that the merging parties must have their existing registration certificates nullified by INEC before a fresh one could be issued in APC’s name. The lawyers, who spoke to Nigerian Tribune, agreed that the issue of merger of political parties in Nigeria was covered by the constitution and the Electoral Act, though with some conditions and stipulations. Speaking on the matter, chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Ikeja branch, Mr Monday Onyekachi Ubani, said the parties could merge but how the leaders would manage the team was the problem. “One of the provisions is that INEC must be informed 90 days before election for merger to take place. Therefore, merger is provided for under the law of the land. The old political parties will have their old certificates cancelled and a new one will be issued as one for the new merged political party. The only challenge to this new development in our political life is the characters of the leaders of the merging parties. Is their ambition for national interest or for selfish interest? Time will tell!” Ubani said A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Segun Ajibola, also aligned with Ubani’s stance on the constitutionality of the merger. “Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution guarantees to every person the right to peaceful assembly and association, to form or belong to any political party, trade union or any other association for the protection of his interest. “This is provided that the provisions of this section shall not derogate from the powers conferred by the constitution on INEC with respect to political parties to which that commission does not accord recognition. “This is were Section 84 subsections 1 to 6 of the Electoral Act comes in to play as far as merger of parties are concerned. The conditions and requirements laid down for compliance in this law for the attainment of the merger objective. “The merger, therefore, has sufficient constitutional and statutory backing in all its ramifications, subject to the laid down guidelines for doing so in the electoral law,” Ajibola said. Also speaking with the Nigerian Tribune on the issue, a constitution lawyer and former Ondo State gubernatorial aspirant, Tunji Abayomi, said the merger was constitutional “It is constitutional. The law provides for it. As long as they meet the condition stipulated by the constitution, each party must approve it Abayomi stated further that the merger was not only legal but will “definitely work, adding that “we should be positive about it. Any ruling party anywhere in the world should have a strong challenger in order to protect the interest of the people.” Also, Chief Bolaji Ayorinde said “they are free to form a new political party and their former identity should be subsumed, because the new political party, once it is registered by the INEC, will become a legal entity. “The legal implication is that all the former political parties that merged together cannot retain their former identity. The new party will take over their assets and liabilities, there will be a new party that is duly registered by INEC.” Meanwhile, AS the opposition parties perfect plans to fuse into an umbrella political platform, All Progressive Congress (APC), there have been underground moves by members to pressurise two of the top leaders, General Muhammadu Buhari and Senator Bola Tinubu, not to take the front row in the struggle for leadership of the proposed party. The ambivalence by the two leaders in the struggle for tickets of the evolving opposition party, according to findings, was the expectation of most members, who felt that the new party needed to take off on a strong footing. Top members of the newly announced party were said to be shopping for new generation of leaders to hold the banner, after successfully obtaining the endorsement of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), an indication that Buhari and Tinubu would be at the background, directing the affairs of the party. Members of the party, in separate chats with the Nigerian Tribune, disclosed thar at it was, the main pre-occupation of every member was to ensure the registration of the party before June, with the manifesto, logo and the ideology properly crafted. One of the members, Honourable Dino Melaye, said the APC members were not at the moment bugged with the issue of who would bear its ticket in the coming presidential election as, according to him, doing so would cause crises which the party did not require. Melaye, a former member of the House of Representatives, said APC, at the moment, was busy consolidating with intent to shock Nigerians about its strength and seriousness to take power in 2015. He affirmed that neither Buhari nor Tinubu was the issue being discussed by members at the moment, as, according to him, the decision of who to lead the new party would not be subjected to the whims and caprices of the two leaders.