2023: Activists, professionals seek to register new party with INEC

A socio-political organisation, comprising of civil rights activists, students, artisans and various professionals, under the aegis of League of Patriots, said it has submitted a pre-registration application to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to be registered as a political party ahead of 2023 General Elections.

The protem National Chairman of the group, Comrade Mark Adebayo, made the disclosure in a statement, after submitting the application to the Office of the Chairman of INEC on Thursday in Abuja, just as he further disclosed that the proposed name for the new party, whose interim Protem National Secretary is Umar Bawa Yusuf, “is simply OUR PARTY with the acronym OP and a flying Aeroplane as its logo.”

Adebayo, a prominent human rights and political activist, columnist and published author, while justifying the need for a new party ahead of the 2023 poll, posited that it was a new dawn on the political horizon of Nigeria as Nigerians would be given renewed hope and confidence that they had a political platform, opining that they were fed up with the two domineering political parties, and we’re looking for a genuine people’s party in which they would be critical stakeholders, and devoid of godfatherism, among others.

According to him, the new political platform being sought registration for is an alternative and workable response to the country’s challenges, saying OP was poised to provide an all-encompassing platform for Nigerians where everyone would give free expression to their political aspirations without discrimination.

“We will kickstart a sociopolitical revolution that will give Nigeria a new lease of life. Political party ownership should be for the people primarily and must never be left to moneybags alone. We must reject the notion that only the rich can start and run a political party. A real political party is owned by the mass of the people. This is what OP is all about. A party of the people by the people,” Adebayo said.

“We don’t need violence to fix this country. What we need is a mass involvement of all Nigerians in the process of rebuilding Nigeria’s faulty structures. We must promote everything that can make us work together to make Nigeria work,” he added.

Speaking further, Adebayo disclosed that OP had structures in 25 states across the country and was actively mobilizing members into the political association pending its registration, saying that membership was open to all Nigerians without discrimination, excepting “only convicted criminals and past rulers who had mismanaged the country.”

(Nigerian Tribune)