Former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s special press statement titled ‘The Way Out: A Clarion Call for Coalition for Nigeria Movement’ has continued to generate ripples across the country nearly a week after its release.
Obasanjo had carpeted the current administration of President Muhammadu Buhari and both the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for failing Nigerians.
He had also advocated a new political movement, Coalition of Nigeria (CN).
The after-effect of the explosive statement is probably being felt most in the National Assembly, where many members are believed to be sympathetic towards the position canvassed by the ex-president.
So enamoured are the legislators with the idea of a new political movement in the country that one of them has confirmed to The Punch that as many as 80 percent of the members are in support of Obasanjo.
The APC senator from the North reportedly told the paper that Obasanjo had reached out to them.
He said, “It is true that he has reached out to us and I can tell you that 80 per cent of National Assembly members are with him. It is very huge.”
He added, “I can confirm to you that there is most likely to be defections from the APC in the next one month.
“I can tell you that there are people in the APC who are not comfortable with the party; and there are those in the PDP who are not comfortable with the party also. So, most likely, these would be the forces that would form the third force.”