ACN FUSES INTO APC AT CONVENTION IN LAGOS

• Why PDP
must go, by Buhari, Akande, Onu, Momoh, others

MOVES to forge a formidable mega party in the country Thursday
received a boost, as the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) at its national
convention in Lagos okayed its fusion into the Alliance for Progressive Change
(APC).

Also at the convention, former Head of State and presidential
candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in 2011, Gen. Muhammadu
Buhari, the party’s National Chairman, Prince Tony Momoh; the ACN National
Chairman, Chief Bisi Akande; his All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) counterpart,
Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu and former Lagos State Governor, Bola Ahmed Tinubu; echoed
the need to vote out what they called the ‘visionless ruling PDP’ in 2015.

Indeed, at exactly 1.36 p.m., the curtain was drawn on ACN through
a motion moved by its National Organising Secretary, Alhaji Abubakar Kari and
seconded by Mrs. Tonia Adon from Ebonyi State.

Moving the motion for the dissolution of the party, Kari from
Gombe State announced that the proposed merger with CPC, ANPP and All
Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) has been resolved and is hereby approved by
the National Executive Council (NEC).

Kari said: “I hereby move that the proposed merger with ANPP, CPC
and APGA is hereby accepted and adopted. Secondly, that the provision of
section 84 of the Electoral Act 2010 as amended is hereby resolved that the
proposed congress of ACN with ANPP, CPC and APGA is hereby approved, that the
name of the party APC as approved by NEC is hereby approved, that consequent
upon the conclusion of the merger, the name of the party shall be called All
Progressive Congress (APC) and lastly the manifesto, constitution, logo,
programme and other insignia of the merger party APC as adopted by our NEC is
hereby approved, I so moved.”

On the ratification of expulsion of some members, Uche Onyagocha
from Owerri, Imo State, moved the motion for the expulsion of Mohammed Soba
from Kaduna State backing it with reference to Article 9.4 of ACN constitution
and was seconded by the Lagos State chairman, Chief Henry Ajomale.

The party’s National Legal Adviser, Dr. Muiz Banire, also
announced the ratification of new 4,761 delegates into the forum, while he also
moved the motion to ratify the merger.

According to him, “the national convention of ACN held on April
18, 2013 is in total realisation of the merger. All actions approved shall be
regarded as the decision by the national leaders of the party.”

The motion was seconded by Kenneth Kobani from Rivers State.

In his speech, Akande described the merger as a bold step that
would eventually lead to the total transformation of the country.

According to him: “The convention has set in motion one of the
required steps that would bring together the process of positive change in
Nigeria.”

He added that the successful merger of the party with others and
transformation to APC was the first bold step towards wrestling power from the
ruling party and turning it to an opposition party.

He stressed: “There is no gainsaying, the fact, that the merger of
leading opposition parties, which has reached an advanced stage, is already a
fait accompli. The urgent need for change and the crushing desire to rescue our
country from decay compelled us to act quickly to provide an alternative
leadership for Nigeria. This endeavour has become necessary given the efforts
of the ruling party to stifle democracy and destroy its institutions.

“We must not entertain any weariness or surrender to sentiments or
blackmail in this enterprise, mindful that the merger is strange, new and
unique in Nigeria and that the law did not envisage the ambush being placed on
our ways. But we shall overcome. This merger has come to stay!

“The leadership of our great party after deep deliberations and
consultations and in view of the current political reality is convinced that a
merger is the way to go. We have threaded this path before. We are wiser,
smarter and more prepared to make the sacrifices that this process requires for
the sake of our country.

“This is the kind of tradition I would urge us to re-establish in
the new family, All Progressive Congress (APC). The next few changes of the
merger are the final bold steps that will position us politically for greater
gains and deliver one of the most formidable political platforms in post
independent Nigeria.

“In over 13 years that the PDP has been in power, not only has it
failed to deliver on its promises, it has infected all institutions of state
with its moral infirmity, aversion to the rule of law and entrenched monumental
corruption never seen in the history of this country. Today, our country has
become a society where the safety of life and property is at its lowest ebb and
poverty level at its highest. Nigerians are waiting patiently but with bated
breath, to see the successful outcome of the merger talks. We must never let
them down. We must rise above pettiness and personal ambitions and put the
greater interest of this nation over any other thing else, for this is the only
guarantee, to salvaging Nigeria from the precipice”, Akande further stressed.

In the same vein, the former Governor of Lagos State, Bola Ahmed
Tinubu, commended the leaders of the merging parties over their commitment to
seeing that Nigeria does not end up as a failed state.

He particularly applauded their determination to make great
sacrifice to surrender their individual parties, their identities to form a
larger party just for the masses from the poor administration of the ruling
PDP.

According to him, “if we fail to move fast now and form a larger
party that would be strong enough to oust PDP or put it on its toes, history
will not forgive us.”

Buhari said the most topical issue in the country today was the
merger.

In his goodwill message, National Chairman, CPC, Prince Tony
Momoh, urged party chieftains and supporters to shelve their differences and
come together to work for the party in the next general elections.

He said rather than forcefully impose itself on the electorate
through election rigging, APC would work with the toiling masses, mobilise them
towards reversing the current situation typified by poverty, corruption, high
crime rate, among others in the polity.

Onu said that unlike previous mergers, which did not work, the
current one would turn things around for Nigerians.

According to him, the ruling party should begin to disengage from
power in 2015 and prepare for its imminent role as opposition party.

Onu stated that with the merger, the country would experience
monumental change never witnessed in the country.

Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola, who was obviously elated
playing host to the gathering, also stressed: “This gathering is a historical
decision to provide a political alternative. I am proud to be a delegate at
this historic convention and for Lagos being the venue of this history.”

However, while reiterating the need for the merger, he said:
“Proscription of other political parties is not necessarily the only condition
for one-party state, but the absence of strong alternative choice is a major
ingredient. The APC is an alternative choice, which would be put to test in the
coming Anambra State election”.

Making a snide remark on the alleged effort by the PDP merging
with the INEC, while other parties were merging, Fashola said it was in the
interest of the electoral commission and the country at large for INEC to
remain impartial.

Fashola faulted the PDP’s boast of winning at least 32 states of
the federation in the next election, saying that “the most successful football
team in the world cannot be so specific on the number of goals it is going to
score against its opponent, except if it is so sure that the system had been
compromised.”