2023: Aggrieved APC, PDP leaders set to launch new party

Aggrieved leaders in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are set to launch a new political party ahead of the 2023 general elec­tions, Daily Independent exclusively gathered.

The arrowhead of the movement, who is a former two-term governor and currently a member of the Na­tional Assembly in a text message to Daily Independent, said “the formation of the new political party is already at advanced stage”.

He also said some active members of the two political parties have been giving “clan­destine backing and covert sup­port” to the yet to be launched political party.

Leaders of the yet-to-be formed party said they are ex­pecting an influx of APC and PDP members to join the party when it is officially launched.

Another source, who is also part of the movement, said the leaders of the movement are already in talks with other an­ti-APC, PDP, who are desirous of providing a credible alter­native to Nigeria in 2023 such as the National Consultative Front (NCFront), Rescue Ni­geria Project (RNP) and other civil society organisations.

The NCFront is led by Gh­ali Umar Na’Abba, a former Speaker of the House of Repre­sentatives; Dr. Olu Agunloye, a former Minister of Power and Steel; Ralph Nwosu, National Chairman of Africa Demo­cratic Congress (ADC) and Dr. Yunusa Tanko, former pres­idential candidate of the Na­tional Conscience Party (NCP).

Leaders of the RNM include former Chairman of Indepen­dent National Electoral Com­mission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega; political economist, Prof. Pat Utomi; former governor of Kwara State, Ahmed Ab­dulfatai; and former governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke.

One of the leaders, who asked not to be named, said it is clear that Nigerians are fed up with both the APC and PDP and will gladly embrace the new political party especially given the calibre of people com­ing on board.

When asked if the time frame is not too short to form a new political party with just one year and two months to the date of the presidential elec­tion, he said, “You just wait and watch. It is people that make up a political party. All the machin­eries are in place already and we are confident that the party we are putting together will be registered by INEC.

“Nigerians voted the PDP out in 2015 when the APC pre­sented themselves as credible alternative. But now, it has been discovered that the APC is even worse than the PDP. They are birds of a feather and politicians without ideology who do not have the interests of Nigeria at heart. Just wait and see what happens in the two political parties in days to come, especially during their primaries”, he said.

Also speaking, Senator Ru­fai Hanga, pioneer national chairman of the defunct Con­gress for Progressive Change (CPC), who recently dumped the APC, said the new political party to be formed will be stron­ger than the APC when it was first launched in 2013.

He said, “God forbid for Ni­geria to end up between APC and PDP. PDP and APC are drifting, sinking by the day. A third force will soon emerge which will be stronger than APC when it first launched in 2013.

“You know APC was very strong when it was formed and that was why it was able to dislodge PDP in the 2015 presidential election. The third force that will emerge now will be much stronger than the APC when it came.

“The party will participate in this forthcoming 2023 elec­tion and it will clean sweep the whole polity. I can assure you of this”.

However, when contacted, Yunusa Tanko, who is the Head, Public Affairs Bureau of NCFront, said nobody has contacted them for any align­ment.

“Nobody has contacted us for any alignment as at today. We are not into any alliance with any other group as at now. We are going on with our own programme”, he said. (Daily Independent)