PUNCH
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
PDP celebrates collapse of ACN, CPC talks
Olusola Fabiyi
The Peoples Democratic Party on Tuesday celebrated the collapse of negotiations between the Action Congress of Nigeria and Congress for Progressive Change.
The party said the recent happening between the two parties, which now made it difficult for them to form alliance in the April general elections had further proved its prediction that the alliance was "a mere road show which is bound to fail and we have been vindicated."
In a statement by the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Prof. Rufai Alkali, the PDP described the two parties as strange bed fellows.
The statement reads in part, "It was not surprising when the National Secretary of the ACN. Alhaji Lawal Shuaibu, in announcing the collapse of the talks between the two parties, made allusion to the irreconcilable differences between the ACN and CPC.
"He obviously reechoed what Nigerians already know of the two political parties; that they are two strange bed fellows.
"It is all a question of one party trying to lord it over the other. This again did not come as a surprise as none of the two political parties has ever made any pretences as to how greater its selfish interest is to that of the nation.
"The ACN, in perpetual indulgence of name change, could not after all change in its hatred for internal democracy and democracy as witnessed in the charade that went for its congresses and primaries, with impunity and imposition as the order of the day; the CPC with its cult heroism has been devastated by internal divisions."
"Clearly, the conduct of the primaries of our great party has reaffirmed our position as the only sure vehicle for the entrenchment and growth of democracy in Nigeria.
"As for the ACN and CPC, we wish them well as they continue in the wilderness of alliance.
"If these two political parties could not allow their followers an ordinary choice of who flies the flag in their respective parties, we dare say that they have nothing to offer to Nigerians as far as democracy is concerned."
-------------------------------------------
THE NATION
ACN to PDP: We'll dislodge you without alliance
The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) yesterday berated the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for gloating over the failed alliance between it and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC).
The party said it would dislodge the PDP in the April polls without alliance.
In a statement issued in Ilorin by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party wondered why the PDP celebrated the failure of the alliance.
''It is a mark of the idleness of the folks in charge of the PDP that they would resort to issuing a statement over the alliance between two opposition parties, when they should be strategising on how to save their party from an imminent doom,'' the ACN said.
The party said the PDP is in a bigger mess, following the confusion arising from its primaries.
''The PDP is in a bigger mess, having been unable to organise successful primaries. Nigerians know which party has defied the law by organising primaries long after the statutory period has expired. Such is the lawlessness for which the PDP has become popular.
''No one is deceived by the facade put up by the party at its presidential primaries in Abuja, where delegates were induced with cash," it alleged.
ACN said it does not owe the PDP explanations on its failed alliance with the CPC.
The party said the alliance failed because of the attitude of the CPC, led by its presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.
''We made a lot of concessions to make the alliance work, but the CPC stuck to a take-it-or-leave-it attitude, behaving all through the talks as if it was the senior partner in the alliance."
----------------------------
THE NATION
Akande: Buhari not better than Ribadu
Yusuf Alli, Abuja
03/02/2011
How did the alliance talks between the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) collapse?
ACN Chairman Bisi Akande explained it yesterday, blaming it all on the CPC, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari's party, which he said lacked the political will for such a marriage.
Akande stated this in a January 28 letter to the National Chairman of the CPC, Prince Tony Momoh, a copy of which he sent to the party's presidential candidate, Gen. Buhari.
Both parties were discussing the possibility of going jointly into the presidential elections to wrest power from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), but the talks collapsed.
Akande said ACN would go to the polls without an alliance with the CPC because A CN presidential candidate Mallam Nuhu Ribadu parades the same moral pedigree as Gen. Buhari. Ribadu is the pioneer chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The letter reads: "Gen. Buhari will recall our conversations and efforts to merge our two parties as far back as 2005. As proof of our willingness and sincerity, we even decided to adopt his party's name and logo. This was when he was in the ANPP. This dream never materialised.
"Thereafter, we continued to hope that circumstance and national necessity would make for reconsideration. Over a year ago, the circumstance, precisely the urgent need to salvage the country from the cruel hands of the PDP, gave birth to the National Democratic Movement. This was hailed by the teeming, if beleaguered, population of this country. We, on our part, pursued it with enthusiasm, dedication and great hope.
"Alas! When we were about to consummate the common platform we had all agreed to, Atiku Abubakar suddenly withdrew and returned to the PDP. Rather disappointingly, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari also left to start building the CPC from scratch.
"The letter the CPC wrote the NDM remains an evidence of an insult to the spirit of the whole project and the total absence of the political will to work together in the first place.
"Thus, we were left dumbfounded, stranded, and seriously embarrassed with an overwhelming number of our members feeling we had enough of the stand-ups. Those feelings are still very strong, leading in some circumstances, to deep resentment and disinterest in further talks.
"This situation, notwithstanding, we have continued to explore avenues of cooperation with strong faith in a merger while your party appears to favour an alliance of some sort, hoping to convince our followership of the national need for the emergent of a virile opposition party to dislodge the PDP.
"We have reached a crescendo in this unending symphony. It is absolutely clear to us in the leadership of our party that the vast majority of our members whose views we must respect, no longer sees a merger as possible before the 2011 elections.
"There are too many technical hurdles in our ways. As for alliance, it has never been an attractive option and its workability is undoubtedly problematic because of the low level of literacy of the majority of our voters, among others."
The sum total of all these is that:
.The ACN no longer considers a merger feasible.
. The CPC has not demonstrated sufficient seriousness and political will to forge a workable electoral cooperation.
.The ACN therefore considers electoral alliance no longer feasible. We may, however, consider other forms of electoral cooperation that will pool resources and ensure credible election in the forthcoming general elections.
"Finally, we shall continue to hope that there will be opportunities after the general elections to explore further cooperation with a view to strengthening democracy and good governance.
"We are glad to note that our presidential candidate is in the image of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari. We have reasons to believe; therefore,
the room for cooperation will continue to exist between our parties even after the general elections.
"We leave these matters for your deep consideration aware that this is a season of extra-ordinary pressure on you and us all. Remain assured of our highest regards."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ALUKO COMMENTARY
Let the games begin - and may the best candidate win!
Bolaji Aluko
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
For current archives, visit http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
For previous archives, visit http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
No comments:
Post a Comment