Members of the Action Congress of Nigeria on Thurday okayed the proposed merger of the party with the Congress for Progressive Change and the All Nigeria Peoples Party.
At the national convention of the party in Lagos where the nod was given, ACN National leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, said the merger of the main opposition parties would save Nigeria from collapse.
Leader of the CPC, Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd); the National Chairman of the ANPP, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, and Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, were at the Onikan Stadium venue of the convention to show solidarity with the ACN.
ACN National Chairman Chief Bisi Akande; former Information Minister Tony Momoh; former Foreign Affairs Minister, Tom Ikimi and ex-Peoples Democratic Party National Chairman, Chief Audu Ogbeh, were also present.
Other prominent ACN members in attendance were governors Babatunde Fashola(Lagos); Rauf Aregbesola(Osun); Ibikunle Amosun(Ogun); Adams Oshiomhole (Edo); the party’s presidential candidate in 2011, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu; and former Kano State Governor Ibrahim Shekarau.
Shortly before an ACN leader in Imo State, Mr. Uche Onyeaguocha, moved a motion for collapsing the ACN into All Progressives Congress, Tinubu, in his speech entitled, ‘Sacrificing the party to save Nigeria’, said the merger was inevitable.
He said, “History is upon us, asking something bold of us. Those who hear must respond to its call because history is impatient. If we tarry, history shall not. If we fail to act as the situation requires, history will still move forward and its pen will write an unanswerable verdict against us.
“All the prior achievements and feats we have recorded in the past will matter little unless we now answer the challenge now facing us.
“We have come to the place where things must change or we shall sink. For the nation to continue as it is, constitutes nothing less than an invitation to doom. Such a fate we shall not abide.
“The hour is late and our chance for national progress reduces with each idle moment. The way Nigeria is governed must change and change dramatically. This means the shape of politics must change.”
He said it was unfortunate that a country rich in manpower and material resources could be suffering because of misgovernance.
The former Lagos State governor added that more Nigerians than ever before suffer grinding poverty daily, stressing that unemployment had become so rampant among the youths that “finding a job is no longer the natural progression of life.”
He said even upon finding work, many of them discover they labour for wages below the subsistence level.
The ACN national leader added, “This is not the way of a great nation. It is the way of heartless and mean governance that puts the interests of small elite above the interests of the common working man and woman who are the soul and backbone of this nation.
“Yet, those in command do nothing for the average Nigerian who is forced to run this gauntlet of death for his daily crumbs of bread. Instead, those who could improve this situation for the good of all do just enough to make things better for themselves.”
He said the gathering at the convention arena was to put an end to national corrosion and corruption.
Tinubu said, “I stand to tell you that for the good of Nigeria, this must be the last and final convention of the ACN. As one of the national leaders of this party, I have dedicated myself to our political collaboration. I am attached to it in the strongest way. I am proud of what we have accomplished.
“To rescue Nigeria from the blight of mis-goverance, we must join hands with like-minded progressives in other parties and organisations. We must sacrifice our current partisan identity to create a larger one capable of assuming leadership at the national level. This and only this offers the best chance for Nigeria at this stage.
“Join me today in voting to move our party into merger with the ANPP, CPC, other parties and organisations to form the All Progressives Congress.”
He said the decision to merge was not a sad ending but the beginning of a great beginning.
Addressing the delegates, Akande said that the convention was the party’s last step in coming together to build an alternative platform.
“There is no gainsaying that the APC merger is fait accompli. This merger has come to stay; it is our hope that the merger will yield a bumper harvest,” Akande added.
In his goodwill message, Buhari, a former head of state and 2011 presidential candidate of the CPC, said the merger was a continuation of what was started in 2010.
“Time was against us but this time we started early to build on the foundations we have laid. The only solution to political anarchy in Nigeria is this merger. We will make it impossible for rigging to continue to thrive in Nigeria. There is no alternative to the merger; the only alternative would be unthinkable,” he stated.
In his remarks, Shekarau, the ANPP 2011 presidential candidate, said the parties were determined more than ever to move the train of the progressives to succeed in 2015.
Ribadu, a former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, and the ACN presidential candidate in 2011, said the merger would lead to the progressives’ victory in 2015.
“We are on the journey to bring new Nigeria, bring back security and creation of jobs,’ Ribadu said.
Momoh said the merger was not being formed to just take over power from the PDP but to bring change and accountability to Nigerians.
Onu, on his part, said the merger started long time but this time it would happen.
“Nigeria has a lot of problems and there must be an alternative which is the APC. APC will bring calm to our nation. An APC government would be people-centred,” he assured.
In his remarks, Fashola said that with ACN’s last convention, the voice of choice for the people of Nigeria was being reborn.
Fashola said all involved must sacrifice their personal and party interests in the interest of Nigeria.
His Imo State counterpart, Owelle Okorocha, said with the sealing of the merger , hope had finally returned to Nigeria.
Okorocha added, “Let me therefore thank the leaders of the merger for a job well done.
“Now that we are together, let me tell you something – the lack of power we saw yesterday, we shall see it no more. In 2015, the nation will decide. I am not a prophet, but let me prophesy: APC will win in 2015.”
Aregbesola said the convention was an avenue for the progressives to rejoice and to celebrate the death of unemployment, darkness and injustice in the country.
The motion for collapsing the ACN into APC was seconded by Lagos ACN Chairman, Chief Henry Ajomale, after which it was approved by no fewer than 4,761 delegates drawn across the country through the raising of their hands
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