Fifteen political parties have formed an electoral alliance, known as Mega Coalition, to adopt and field candidates for the 2019 governorship and presidential elections.
The parties said the electoral alliance was not a merger because it would see the participating registered political parties field separate candidates for councillorship, local government chairmanship, House of Assembly, House of Representatives and senatorial elections, but collaborating at the gubernatorial and presidential elections, Daily Post reports.
The alliance also chose National Chairman of the National Unity Party, NUP, Chief Perry Opara as its “Chancellor.”
The coalition which made a statement yesterday in Abuja said, “At the governorship elections, the winning party shall form a Government of State Unity, GSU, while at the presidential election, the winning party shall form a Government of National Unity, NUG, with a view to accommodating participating parties in the coalition, thereby reducing the winner takes all syndrome which does not allow smaller political parties to grow in Nigeria.”
Some of the parties which signed the agreement included the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria ACPN, Better Nigeria Progressive Party BNPP, Democratic Alternative DA, Democratic Peoples Congress DPC and Democratic Peoples Party DPP among others.
The coalition said it would field candidates in the forthcoming governorship elections in Anambra, Ekiti and Osun states, for a start, vowing to dislodge the ruling parties therein.
It added, “The Mega Coalition is a response to the high divisiveness in Nigeria and lack of credible opposition party in Nigeria since the 2015 general elections.