Former Head of State Gen. Muhammadu Buhari yesterday said the All Progressive Peoples Congress (APC) will sack the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government in 2015.
Gen. Buhari said Nigerians are tired of bad governance and corruption, which have been the hallmark of the PDP Federal Government since 1999 – according to him.
He said those factors led the opposition parties to join forces to oust the PDP from power.
He spoke yesterday at a meeting of elected representatives of his party – the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC).
The CPC has announced the merger with the Action Congress of Nigerian (AC N), the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and the All Progressive Grand Alliance to form the APC.
The new party is processing its registration with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
But the PDP also said yesterday that it was strategising to stop the APC from taking power.
Akwa Ibom State Governor Godswill Akpabio stated this yesterday when he presided over the maiden meeting of the PDP Governors Forum in Abuja.
Gen. Buhari said the country was in the grip of a bad government whose only intention is to hang on to power by all means.
“The country is in the grip of a bad government whose only purpose is to retain power by hook or crook; preferably by crook. PDP does not need merger or alliance; they are already merged and are in alliance with police, INEC and Judiciary, with NNPC and pension funds. The country is tired of PDP, we are tired of oppression, corruption and impunity,” he said.
Gen. Buhari expressed satisfaction with the progress of the merger talks and urged party members not to allow personal and petty interests to becloud them from the broader national interests.
Gen. Buhari said the CPC Board of Trustees (BoT) met last Saturday and formed eight committees to fast-track the merger. He singled out the registration committee as one of the most important because it is through its efforts that the party will gain more members.
“Our party is at the doorsteps of a historic opportunity to alter the political landscape of Nigeria . Our move to link and merge with the ACN and subsequently with other parties who have broadly similar philosophies, namely good governance, is on the verge of success.
“When we sit in negotiating sessions, our strength will be in our numbers. We should negotiate hard, but always have the ultimate goal in mind. Personal and ethnic interest should always take second place to broader national interests,” he said.
Gen. Buhari urged the elected members to be proud of being the genuinely elected representatives of their people.
“You did not use police to intimidate voters; you did not use INEC staff to inflate your votes. You won, in spite of all attempts by government to rig you out. How many in the PDP can say that? They are very few. You can, therefore, hold your heads high as genuine representatives of your constituents. You are true sons of democracy. Your position is even more important than party officials and party leaders because you are the face of the CPC,” he said.
Gen. Buhari urged the CPC leadership and its representatives at the various assemblies to see the merger as a call to duty, stressing that they should regard themselves as arrowheads of the movement.
“I believe merger is the only way to prevent the continuation of this bad governance. The political class is at one page that the only way to stabilise the nation is for the opposition to merge and face the ruling party because the country is tired of the PDP and its oppression, corruption, insecurity etc,” Gen. Buhari noted.
The National Chairman of CPC, Prince Tony Momoh, told the party faithful to be ready to embrace change in the affairs of the party as a result of the merger initiative.
Speaking about the post-election protests within the party, Momoh said the party has given enough room for dialogue and reconciliation with aggrieved members and that now is time for the party to move ahead.
“Change does not come from the bottom of the mountain, but from the top of it. Change comes not just like change of weather but human being can effect change,” he said.
Nassarawa State Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, the only CPC elected governor, who briefed the gathering regarding the formation of the APC Governors Forum and its activities, said the forum has since imparted positively towards the achievement of the goals of the merger.
He said the APC has so far exhibited uncommon patriotism, unity and zeal in supporting the opposition’s coalition movement.
Al-Makura said the governors resolved to work relentlessly not only to ensure the success of the merger, but also to work towards an APC victory at the polls in 2015.
He said the governors, who have met twice, would reconvene again at venue to be disclosed later to make further inputs in the constitution and manifesto f the new party.
Among the CPC leaders at the one-day retreat are former House of Representatives Speaker Aminu Masari, Alhaji Sule Hamman, Alhaji Ishaku Ibrahim, Senator Solomon Ewuga, CPC senators and members of the House.
Akpabio said a committee led by Katsina State Governor Ibrahim Shema has been set up to look into the crises rocking the party in the Southwest.
On the Adamawa State crisis, he said the PDP governors resolved to allow the Kugama Mijinjwa-led executive to continue pending the outcome of Governor Sule Lamido Committee.
He said: “We are of the opinion that we should take steps to set up structures to meet the emerging challenge of APC. And part of the resolution is that we should have continued interaction of the party, the NWC, leadership of the Board of Trustees and build a synergy with the Nigeria Governors’ Forum.”
According to him, the Shema committee on the southwest has two weeks to submit its report.
Some of the governors at the meeting included Delta, Abia, Bayelsa, Benue, Kano, Jigawa, Rivers and Kogi.
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Source: Nation
