The National Chairman of the All Nigeria Peoples Party [ANPP], Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, Wednesday in Abuja, said the newly formed All Progressives Congress [APC] will help unite the nation considering that it will lead the country away from politics of personality to issues-based and ideas-driven politics.
He also assured that irrespective of the current hurdles facing the formal registration of the new party with INEC, the APC shall be registered, and will be ready to face the ruling PDP within the next couple of months.
Dr Onu expressed these convictions while receiving the delegation of the stakeholders of the ANPP in Bauchi State led by Senator Mohammed A. Mohammed, OFR, who paid him a courtesy call at the National Secretariat of the party in Abuja.
Welcoming the nine-man delegation, Dr Onu said, ‘‘The APC will do a lot for Nigeria. One, it will change the way politics is played in Nigeria. We will move the country away from politics of personality to issues-based and ideas-driven politics.
‘‘Politics of personality is divisive; it uses things that divide like religion and ethnic sentiments. But ideas based politics unites everybody; for example if some people are poor in Ekiti, others are poor in Ebonyi, and yet others poor in Jigawa State, they will all agree on the same issue on poverty.
‘‘This is why we have agreed that we will use the broom to sweep away poverty from Nigeria. We have leaders of note coming together from various parts of the country, and having inputs from diverse backgrounds, in an agreement to solve our problems.’’
Dr Onu during the occasion also reiterated that the driving philosophy behind the formation of the merger political party was not to compete for political power but to solve the myriads of problems currently facing the nation, as the new party is made up of respectable politicians from different parts of the nation with hands-on experience on how to redeem the dwindling fortunes of the nation.
‘‘Another thing is that the APC will help the country to have two strong parties, so that anybody in power will know that he or she can be voted out if there is low performance, therefore individuals will work hard to serve the people in order to remain in office.
‘‘We are not against anybody or group. We are for Nigeria. We want other nations and foreigners to respect our dear country and to hold us in high esteem, and for Nigerians to be proud wherever they are. Our interest is not just to form government or produce governors and other officers, but we also want to solve the problems of Nigeria.
‘‘From next week you will hear of things happening in very quick succession, and within the next three to four months we would have finished all the processes we need to put in place for the APC to become a reality.’’
Addressing the Bauchi delegation, which is made up of notable politicians and founding members of the ANPP in the state, in the company of the ANPP National Director of Publicity, Comrade Sabo Mohammed [who is also from Bauchi State], Dr Onu commended them for their ingenious and mature politics and also encouraged them to do more to achieve the aims of the ongoing merger plans.
‘‘We are also happy that our party is strong in Bauchi State. Bauchi occupies a strategic place in the politics of Nigeria because you are the only state that produced a Prime Minister for Nigeria. We are also happy that you assured us that by 2015, by the grace of God, the APC will produce the governor of Bauchi State.
‘‘You have the reach, you have what it takes. You have done it before. You have produced a governor for our party before, produced senators, members of the House of Representatives, members of house of assemblies and so on.
‘‘This time your efforts will yield more fruits because we are now in a new platform with more people, the All Progressives Congress. It is good that you are already talking with other opposition parties in the merger.’’
The leader of the delegation, Senator Mohammed A. Mohammed, who is also a member of the ANPP Board of Trustees and the leader of the party in Bauchi State, in his address, stated that they were in Abuja to show their support and commend the national leadership for their laudable role in the merging of the opposition parties.
‘‘We are here to congratulate you and show our support to the national leadership for the efforts you have made so far to bring the merger to fruition,’’ Senator Mohammed said.
He also commended Dr Onu for his exemplary leadership in running the affairs of the ANPP, and assured that history will never forget his unique contribution for the growth of participatory democracy in Nigeria.
‘‘We endorse the merger and formation of the APC, and wait for further instructions from the national secretariat.
‘‘We are already talking among ourselves, that is, the CPC, ANPP, APGA and ACN in our state. By the grace of God, Bauchi State will present the first APC governor in Nigeria.’’
Signed
Hon Emma Eneukwu
National Publicity Secretary
ANPP
14-03-13
