Politics
Opposition Parties, Ganging-Up Against PDP?
The political storm has started building up. One can only imagine its momentum as the 2015 general elections draw closer.
Political leaders of opposition parties seem to be at their wits end going by the political under currents characteristic of early preparations for election. However, almost three years ahead of the 2015 elections, they have started strategizing to wrest power and control of governance from the ruling party at the centre.
Towards achieving this task, the opposition political parties plan to form a formidable common platform ahead of the elections. To ensure the conceptualisation of the political alliance, the leadership of the All Nigeria People Party (ANPP) has set up a 20-Man Merger Committee under the leadership of former Presidential Candidate of the National Republican Convention (NRC), Alhaji Bashir Tofa.
The former Governor of Yobe State, now a Senator, Bukar Abba Ibrahim was recently quoted as saying “ANPP would soon conclude its merger plans with other opposition political parties in order to wrestle power from the People Democratic Party (PDP) in 2015.”
According to him, “all the opposition political parties have realised their mistakes and had resolved to forge a common agenda to tackle PDP in 2015.”
On the part of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the party has already set up a strong panel under its chieftain, Chief Tom Ikimi, to hold talk with the ANPP and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) on the need for merger.
The National Publicity Secretary of ACN, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, recently said the two political parties, ACN and CPC, are going to finalise merger talks by October 2012. The party’s spokesman said the ongoing talks were not about the ACN and CPC alone, but a phenomenon that would see to the coming together of progressive forces in the country, irrespective of party affiliation, to provide a credible alternative to the ruling party at the centre.
Mohammed said “what is coming from the ACN/CPC is more than just talks, it is going to be like the Noah’s Ark because all politicians of like minds are coming together.”
In the thinking of the opposition political parties, an alliance or merger had become imperative in the chequered political development of the country now, given the fact that the PDP-led government had failed to impact the dividends of democracy on the people, and that the only way they could “kick” PDP out of governance at the centre is to come together.
But the PDP has dismissed such ongoing moves by opposition parties to form an alliance aimed at wrestling political power from the party come 2015 general elections. The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metue, said the party is not threatened in any form by such an alliance since PDP remains the only truly national political party committed to the continued existence of Nigeria.
He said,” At the appropriate time, Nigerians will decide whether to entrust their great nation into the hands of regionalists, doomsday prophets and pro-anarchists or to the safe hands of the PDP’.
The party’s spokesman emphasised that PDP as a political party is the only party in Nigeria with a strong presence in all the 9,572 electoral wards, and that the party would rely on its intimidating membership as well as its credible performance to win the general elections in 2015.
Meanwhile, Nigerians are earnestly waiting to see how far the opposition parties can go with their alliance and merger plans within the context of the chequered history of irreconcilable political differences associated with political alliance and merger.
Today, one of the opposition parties, All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) is completely engrossed in leadership crisis with the party becoming rudderless based on the conflict of interests between the two elected Governors of the party.
A Public Affairs Analyst, Mr Wisdom Dike, said,” the conflicting political interests of APGA’s two elected Governors, Peter Obi of Anambra State and Owelle Rochas Okorocha of Imo State respectively on leadership crisis within the party portends from the onset a divisive tendency for the opposition parties alliance/merger.
“The proponents of the alliance merger cannot leave out APGA in the merger plan. The two elected governors of the party are crucial for any formidable political alliance,” he noted.
On the part of the CPC formed few months to the 2011 general elections, the party is presently in a time of soul searching to overcome the crisis of leadership that arose largely from the conduct of the party’s primaries. A reflection on the history of political alliance/merger in Nigeria, however, shows that opposition political parties’ alliance/merger have always been merely cosmetic political alliance without any resultant effects.
A political scientist and lecturer in the Department of Political Science, University of Uyo, Dr Monday Dickson, said “political alliance/merger in Nigeria is merely a talk show, practically, Nigerians need a concrete realisation of the opposition political parties merger to challenge a ruling party and provide more dividends of democracy.”
According to him, “the political merger is a good plan, lets wait and see the outcome of the alliance among the opposition political parties.”
It will be recalled that shortly after independence, the Northern People Congress (NPC) and the National Council of Nigeria Congress (NCNC) formed an alliance, while the Action Group (AG) remained the opposition political party.
But before the 1964 general elections, the NPC/ NCNC alliance had irretrievably broken down, giving rise to the formation of new alliances by other political parties such as the United Progressive Grand Alliance (UPGA) and the Nigeria National Alliance (NNA).
In the UPGA were the NCNC, AG, Northern Element Progressive Union (NEPU) and the United Middle Belt Congress (UMBC) led by Late Senator Joseph Talka, while the NNA had NPC and the newly formed Nigeria National Democratic Party (NNDP) led by Chief Samuel Akintola, a breakaway faction of AG.
The NNA was ideologically and politically cohesive, but UPGA was a collection of diverse ideological political leaders. The political alliance among the UPGA endured for a while because of the imperative needs for them to wrestle political power from the NNA, but the military coup of 1966 truncated everything.
Towards the 1983 general elections of the Second Republic, the opposition political parties, the United Party of Nigeria (UPN), Great Nigeria People’s Party (GNPP), Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) and Nigeria People Party (NPP) formed an alliance called the Progressive Parties Alliance (PPA) to confront the then ruling National Party of Nigeria (NPN).
But the greatest albatross of that alliance/merger was the irreconcilable political disagreement of who to be the common candidate of the alliance.
The problem remained unresolved and led to the disintegration of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Dr Nnamdi Azikwe, Alhaji Ibrahim Waziri and Mallam Aminu Kano.
Currently, as 2015 approaches, the opposition political parties are faced with a similar chequered history of political merger/ alliance. The question thus is “can there be any difference now?”
Senator Abba Ibrahim may have aptly stated it when he said the issue of merger in the past was never done with all serious intent among the parties.
“This time around Nigerians expect cohesion.”
Philip-Wuwu Okparaji
The Labour Party’s (LP) presidential candidate in the 2023 presidential election, Mr Peter Obi, has visited his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) counterpart, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, in a surprise move that may not be unconnected with the 2027 presidential poll.
Alhaji Abubakar, a former Vice President, announced Mr Obi’s visit in a tweet on Monday afternoon,
“It was my honour and privilege to host @Peter Obi today. – AA,” the post read, with a photo of both men exchanging a handshake.
Although Alhaji Abubabar did not reveal the details of their meeting, insider sources close to the candidates told The Tide source that the meeting, which lasted about one hour, was about a merger towards the 2027 election.
The sources also disclosed that Mr Obi initially met with Jigawa State former Governor and PDP chieftain, Sule Lamido, in Abuja before his private meeting with Alhaji Abubakar.
Before Mr Obi visited the opposition PDP leader, there were speculations that the duo may be plotting to form an alliance to unseat President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election.
Mr Obi was previously in the PDP, where he joined Alhaji Abubakar and served as his running mate in 2019. However, in the build-up to the 2023 election, he defected to the LP, where he contested the presidential race.
Mr Obi and Alhaji Abubakar lost their presidential bids to Bola Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate.
A Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday struck out a suit filed by the Labour Party (LP) seeking an order compelling INEC to conduct a fresh election in the Rivers State House of Assembly to fill the seats of the defected lawmakers.
Justice James Omotosho struck out the suit after counsel for the party, F. I. Adariku, applied to withdraw the suit.
In the suit, the LP had sought the order of the court to compel the commission to conduct a fresh election to fill the seats of the lawmakers who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
But INEC, through its lawyer, Victor Giwa, disagreed with the LP.
Giwa, in a preliminary objection filed on INEC’s behalf, prayed the court to dismiss the suit for being frivolous and incompetent.
According to the lawyer, the suit is an abuse of court process.
He urged the court to decline jurisdiction in the case as the plaintiff (LP) lacked the locus standi and territorial jurisdiction to institute the action.
Giwa, a human rights activist, argued that there was a pending case currently ongoing at a Federal High Court, Port Harcourt judicial division, with suit number: FHC/PH/CS/25/2024 before Justice E.A Obile.
He said the Port Harcourt suit had same parties and concerned same subject matter which was filed earlier before the instant suit in February.
However, after INEC filed its objection, the LP approached the court to withdraw the suit.
Adariku, who held the brief of Kehinde Edun, the party’s national legal adviser, sought to withdraw the suit, praying the court to strike it out.
A. S. Adisa, who held the brief of Giwa, did not oppose the application.
“It is hereby ordered as follows: that this matter having been withdrawn is hereby struck out.
“That the cost of 50,000.00 (Fifty Thousand Naira) is awarded against the plaintiff in favour of the 29th defendant (INEC),” Justice Omotosho declared.
The Tide source reports that other defendants in the suit were Gov. Siminalayi Fubara, Dumle Maol, Major Jack, Franklin Uchenna Nwabochi, Christopher Ofiks, Azeru Opara, and Enemi George.
It also included Granvill Wellington, Ngbar Bernard, John Iderima, Queen Uwuma Williams, Loolo Opuende and Abbey Peter.
Others are Igwe – Obey Aforii, Justina Emeji, Ignatius Onwuka, Hon. Chimezie Nwankwo, Lemchi Prince Nyeche, Barile Nwakoh, Emilia Amadi, Nkemjika Ezekwe, Davios Oxobiriari, Nwankwo Sylvanus, Gerald Oforii and Wami Solomon.
The Kogi State Governor ship Election Petition Tribunal, sitting in Abuja, on Monday, reserved judgment in the petition filed by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and its governorship candidate, Murtala Ajaka, against the election victory of Governor Usman Ododo.
At Monday’s proceedings, Ajaka’s lawyer, Pius Akubo, urged the tribunal to set aside the respondents’ submissions and uphold theirs.
Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), through its lawyer, Kanu Agabi, told the court that their final written address was dated and filed on May 2 as he prayed the tribunal sitting to dismiss Ajaka’s petition.
Likewise, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Governor Ododo asked the tribunal to dismiss Ajaka’s petition in its entirety for being incompetent and lacking in merit.
Counsel to the respondents, Agabi, Joseph Daudu, and Emmanuel Ukala, while adopting their final written addresses and presenting their arguments against the petitioners, prayed the three-member panel of Justices, led by Justice Ado Birnin-Kudu to dismiss the petition.
Agabi contended that the Appeal Court had decided that if the grounds of a petition are inconsistent with one another and are not consistent with the reliefs, it should be struck out.
He also argued that the evidence of the petitioners were grossly insufficient, citing a Supreme Court decision in a case of Tonye Cole against INEC.
“It is our humble submission that your work in the determination of this petition is simplified in recent judgments by the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.
“It is to the effect that once the evidence called is grossly insufficient, there is no evidence. In that case, the petitioner filed 305 witness depositions but only adopted 40 of them.
“The petitioner, according to the decision, only adopted about 13.1 per cent of the witness depositions. In this case, the depositions adopted represent just about 3.6 per cent of their witness depositions,” he said.
He said the petitioners only called 25 witnesses out of the scores listed.
Agabi, said in the mathematical calculation of evidence, 3.6 per cent of Ajaka’s witness deposition adopted in the petition amounted to a failure and therefore, ought to be dismissed.
He said the petitioners equally failed to file the witness deposition beforehand in contravention of the Supreme Court’s decision in Obungado’s case.
He argued that the petitioners’ witness who testified about the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines, clearly stated that he could not guarantee whether those were the BVAS used.
Governor Ododo’s legal representation, Daudu, while adopting his final written address dated and filed on May 1, argued that the petition was statute-barred (filed out of time).
He argued that the action of the petitioners was against Section 122(1) and (2)(a) of the Evidence Act, which empowers the tribunal to take judicial notice of the time of filing, service and response.
Although he clarified that the petitioners responded to their service, Akubo objected to Daudu’s citing of the section describing it as a fresh argument.
Daudu, in response, disagreed with Akubo that he was raising fresh issues after a final written address had been filed.
He said if the court found merit in his argument, Akubo had the right to respond because it bordered on issues of remittal procedure.
He also urged the tribunal to dismiss the allegations of forgery against his client, saying it bordered on a pre-election matter, which the apex court had decided in Gbagi’s case against INEC.
Daudu also argued that Section 137 of the Electoral Act cited by the petitioners on allegations of over-voting did not apply in the instant petition.
Similarly, Ukala, who represented APC, urged the court to dismiss SDP and Ajaka’s petition for lacking in merit while he adopted all the processes.
He informed the court that their final written address, dated April 30 was filed same date.
The petitioners’ lawyer, Akubo, told the tribunal that their final written address was dated and filed May 6 adding that their petition was not filed out of time.
He argued that the respondents themselves confirmed that the petition was filed on December 2, 2023, even by their own witness.
“I urge your lordship to hold that we filed this petition within time under our law,” he said.
After taking arguments from all parties, Justice Birnin-Kudu reserved judgment in the petition.
He announced that a date for judgment would be communicated to the parties.
Recall that the tribunal had, on April 25, fixed Monday, May 13, for the adoption of final written addresses after the parties closed their case in the matter.
SDP and Ajaka had approached the tribunal to challenge Governor Ododo’s victory in the Nov. 11, 2023, Kogi governorship election.
In the petition, INEC, Ododo and APC are listed as 1st to 3rd respondents respectively.
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