NEWS ITEM: APGA MAY BACK OUT OF OPPOSITION PARTIES MEGER

The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) may not be part of the proposed merger or alliance of opposition political parties in Nigeria.

Reason? The party is said to be disposed towards availing its platform to President Goodluck Jonthan in the event the President decides to run for the presidency for a second time in 2015. The party had in 2011 adopted Jonathan as its presidential candidate, a move which swayed votes for the President in the South East during that year’s presidential election.

It will be recalled that Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State, one of the South East Governor elected on the platform of APGA had urged Igbos to adopt Jonathan for the presidency in 2015.

Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State, another Governor elected on the platform of APGA, had declared his desire to aspire for the presidency. He also announced his decision to foreclose plans to return to the PDP.  

  However, a top chieftain of the APGA denied plans of such move.

 He said ‘2015 is three years away, how can the party decide to adopt a candidate that has not declared to contest. Such reports are the figment of the imagination of detractors’

This blog observed that APGA has been conspicuously absent at meetings of opposition political parties made up of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Congress  For Progressive Change (CPC), and the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). 

The alliance/ merger talks were initiated by the ANPP national Chairman, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu early this year. It was learnt that talks to seal the alliance has reached an advanced stage. 

Top officials of the CPC and ANPP who spoke to this blog revealed that the alliance will go on, despite what he described as ‘the sloppy attitude of some other opposition parties towards the merger/alliance’ 

He did not mention which of the political parties is sloppy towards the merger, but maintained that the alliance/ merger will go on unhindered.

 This blog observed that the festering leadership crisis rocking APGA may be responsible for the lukewarm attitude of the party towards the merger/alliance.