Baring any last minute hitch, a new political party will berth in the already charged Nigerian political turf this week.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) confirmed onย Wednesday that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and some Governorsย of the crisis-ridden ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have appliedย for the registration of a group, Peoples Progressive Movement (PPM), as a political party.
The commission said it is processing the application.
Kayodu Idowu, Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman, Attahiru Jega, disclosed this to our correspondent on phone.
Among the Governors who are promoting the new political associationย are Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State, Babangida Aliyu of Niger State, Sule Lamido of Jigawa State and Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano State.
The five Governors have been in the vanguard of dissent within the mainstream PDP.
They have been moving round the country to โconsultโ with past leaders to โsave the countryโs nascent democracy.โ
Beside the five, there are also indications that Kwara Stateย Governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State and Governorย of Taraba may have decided to stake their political lot with the yet toย be registered party.
Though it could not be confirmed at press time, the Speaker of theย House of Representatives is also said to be sympathetic to the newย group.
A former INEC National Commisioner, Mohammed Abubakar, a lawyer whoย is a close political ally of Atiku, filed the papers at INEC on behalfย of the group.
A source privy to the development told Daily Independent onย Wednesday that INEC will meet this week to give the political group theย legal backing. โINEC will definitely meet this week. The party wasย supposed to be registered at the same time the All Progressives Congress (APC) was registered but for strategic reasons, it was withheld. Butย that should be done now since all hurdles have been cleared.โ
It was also reliably gathered that Atiku may likely pursue hisย presidential ambition on the partyโs platform when it comes on board.
The disagreement of the pro-Amaechi governors with the nationalย leadership of the PDP came into the open on eve of the May 21, Nigerianย Governors Forum (NGF) election that led to the split in the Governorsโย ranks.
One of the factions is led by Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State while the other is being championed by Governor Jonah Jang of Plateauย State.
The rumpus that followed the widely disputed election result hasย since escalated the crisis among the Governors, especially thoseย belonging to the PDP.
It was learnt that the new political group petitioned INEC shortlyย after the registration of APC protesting their non-registration.
โINEC decided not to leak the petition to the media, preferring to sort things out behind the curtains,โ our source revealed.
However, INEC chairmanโs spokesman on Wednesday debunked insinuations that the commission refused to register the new group.
He also denied that INEC refused to respond to protest letters written by promoters of the political association.
According to Idowu, โThere is an application from the group, and youย know that there is a procedure for the registration of a politicalย party; the commission is doing that in conformity with the Electoralย Act.
โIt is not true that the commission has not responded to theirย protest letter, we sent them a response that their application is beingย processed,โ he added.
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Source: Daily Independent
