The formation of the new mega party under the unifying mantra to unseat the ruling party at the center of power in Abuja may have been conceived with true spirited desire to right the wrongs that had plagued the easy flow of democratic dividends to the entire citizenry of the country – but its actual implementation may have begun to suffer the symptoms of intrinsic political and a volatile cocktail of religious and cultural divide.
A competent source involved in the formation project revealed to 247ureports.com the difficulties faced by the new mega party. He stated that they pose/threaten to forestall the good willed efforts of the new project. Â As gathered, the group of stake holders who were assembled to iron out the workability of the new mega – had estimated the announcement of the party merger will be followed immediately by the announcement of a party chairman and other sensitive positions. But the project suffered derailment owing to power struggle between the northern elements in the merger group and the south west elements.
In particular, it was understood that the stakeholders representing the Congress for Progressive Change – the CPC, the All Nigeria Peoples Party – the ANPP, are determined to produce the presidential candidate for the 2015 presidential elections – while the south west dominated Action Congress of Nigeria – the ACN, appear equally determined to produce the presidential candidate.
Our source states that the south west elements had initially expressed willingness to settle for the Vice Presidential slot. But they opted to throw their cards on the table when it became certain that General Buhari may be presented as the candidate of the merger party. General Buhari’s possible emergence did not come as welcome news to the south west and majority of southern elements within the group. For this reason, the expected smooth sail of the merger party stalled.
The soiled and/or stormy relationship existing between the leader of the ANPP – Malam Shekarau and the leader of the CPC – General Buhari – dating back to the days when Buhari and Shekarau battled for the leadership position in the ANPP – has further obstructed the smooth implementation of the merger project. The messy relationship has become the biggest obstacle to the allocation of slots to the parties.
According to the stakeholders of the merger, four sensitive slots were to be shared amongst the merging parties. The four slots including – the office of the president, the office of the vice president, the office of the new party, and the office of the secretary to the Federal Government – were to be agreed upon and shared.
But the leaders of both ANPP and CPC have expressed strong unflinching desire to fill the slot of President. Both Shekarau and Buhari have expressed intentions of vying for the presidential ticket in the new mega party. And neither has should interest of backing down for the other. Shekarau has already begun consultations with the Governor of Edo State as possible running mate while Buhari has concluded talks with his running mate, Bola Tinubu.
As a result, a volatile cocktail brews within the merger group – and it appears on the verge of implosion. This is according to the source who continued to add that the time schedule of milestones achievements against the run up to 2015 have been delayed considerably. “We are now engaged in meetings over other issues like setting up the structure of the new party – the zonal structures, the nature of the board of trustee, the nature of the working committees, party logo, etc“, said the source.
