Apart from the 11 governors who are members of the three opposition parties merging to form the All Progressives’ Congress (APC), the new mega-opposition party is claiming 12 other governors who are members of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) but intending to decamp as part of its fold.
This came from the National Publicity Secretary of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), which is one of the merging parties, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who was speaking at the 7th Town Hall meeting with constituents of the Lagos Central Senatorial District organized by Senator Oluremi Tinubu, in Lagos, on Friday.
He said, “The governors will make their declaration after the party is registered, likely in two weeks’ time.”
However, he declined naming the governors.
He explained that the delay in submitting the APC application to the Independent National Electoral Commission was caused by the complexities of merging.
He said, “Merging is not an easy process, it is complicated. Aside from the stipulated name, constitution and logo change, each of the merging parties must hold a special convention of its party to adopt the merger.”
“We are likely to get our registration certificate by the end of June or second week of July.”
He said contrary to speculations in some quarters, the merger would work and was very much on course.
On her part, Tinubu said the APC would guarantee hope for Nigeria.
She said, “Without the genuine change and development being advocated by the APC, Nigeria risks further descent into the abyss of underdevelopment and backwardness.”
She said the bill seeking special status for Lagos in recognition of its role as the economic nerve centre of the country was imperative.
She said, “Consequently, the three senators from Lagos have sponsored a bill pursuant to Section 164 (1) of the constitution, which seeks the provision of financial grants to Lagos State in recognition of its role as the economic nerve centre of the country.”
Tinubu said work on the N222.3m rehabilitation and counselling centre approved for the Lagos Central Senatorial District through the Federal Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development under the 2012 budget, was going on in Eti Osa Local Government.
Wife of Lagos State Governor, Abimbola Fashola, urged Nigerians to strive for excellence in whatever they are doing.
For Nigerian students, she said the era of total dependence on university degrees was over, urging them to embrace vocational education, where they could acquire some skills.
At the event were the Minister of State for Defence, Demola Seriki, and Lagos ACN chairman, Chief Henry Ajomole, among others.
Meanwhile, the Peoples’ Democratic Party has said none of its responsible governors will defect to the yet-to-be registered APC.
It expressed hope that it would surmount the challenges that were before the party at present.
The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Chief Olisa Metuh, stated this in an interview with one of our correspondents.
Metuh said it was wrong for the spokesperson for the ACN (Mohammed) to have thought that PDP governors would defect to the APC.
He said, “APC is not an alternative to the PDP. APC is a party of extremists, party of religious bigots and tribal jingoists. It is a party doomed to fail.”