S*H*O*C*K*I*N*G! ANPP Pulls Out Of APC Merger!

**INEC formally informed on 02/04/2013 of their intention.
**ANPP alleged that all the parties in the merger are not being treated equally.
**we have been fooled and deceived by Bola Tinubu/ACN Party.
**All progressives Congress was the brainchild of Bola Tinubu, who formed a political group with the acronym, APC, in 2006.
**the same people who sponsored the “failed” APC were insisting on the acronym just to expand their political empire.
**we have discovered the unholy, inordinate, ulterior motive of a few insatiable political gluttons, who are largely obsessed with the self-driven interest.

If the demand coming from a group within the All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP concerning the merging party of the All Progressives Congress, APC, is anything to go by, then the opposition APC may just be playing with a fresh crisis in its hands.


A group in the ANPP is seeking a halt to the merger and registration of the APC. In calling for an end to ANPP’s involvement in the merger, the splinter group disclosed that all the parties in the merger are not being treated equally.

The group, in a letter addressed to the ANPP National Chairman, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, therefore gave the party’s leadership three weeks to pull out of the merger to avoid committing political suicide.

The ANPP is one of the three main opposition parties spearheading the formation of APC to defeat the ruling Peoples Democratic Party in the 2015 elections. The others are the Action Congress of Nigeria and the Congress for Progressive Change.

The letter dated April 2 and signed by the convener of the group and the Usuma ward Chairman of the ANPP, in Bwari Area Council, Abuja, Mallam Isa Bala, was copied to INEC chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega. It is entilted, “MERGER/APC CRISIS: HOW WE HAVE BEEN FOOLED & DECEIVED BY BOLA TINUBU/ACN PARTY (THE SECRET TINUBU IS HIDING FROM US (MERGING PARTNERS).”

In the letter, the group alleged that the All progressives Congress was the brainchild of a former Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu, who had in 2006 formed a political group with the acronym, APC.

According to it , the same APC, which was registered in January 2006 transformed to the ACN in August 2006 under Tinubu’s leadership. It argued that the same people who sponsored the “failed” APC were insisting on the acronym just to expand their political empire.

The letter reads in part, “The merger could have also provided a strong two -party system in Nigeria which will produce a virile opposition as it is obtained in advanced democracies of the world. The gains of the merger cannot be over-emphasised as the generality of Nigerians had anxiously waited for its realisation.

“However, to our utter bewilderment, we have discovered the unholy, inordinate, ulterior motive of a few insatiable political gluttons, who are largely obsessed with the self-driven interest of expanding their political empire to the detriment of the greater majority of Nigerians.

“We the members of ANPP Concerned Stakeholders, therefore, call upon our national leadership to henceforth suspend involvement in the merger process until this and other questions are answered.

\“It has become obvious that the merger partners are not treated as equal entities in the merger project, rather it is being dominated by the Bola Tinubu- led ACN.

“The interest of our great party is evidently, not adequately protected, in the present merging arrangement. Therefore, our party cannot surrender its identity that all our founding fathers have laboured for, to satisfy the interest of an individual.

“Consequently, we give our national leadership three weeks to suspend their involvement in the merger if this anomaly is not corrected. We also urge our national leadership to start discussing the possibility of forming alliance with the Congress for Progressive Change and other political parties on basis of mutual respect and equality for one another in the 2015 general elections .

“On this note, we encourage the CPC led by General (Muhammadu) Buhari to also review its stance and stake in the merger arrangement, as it is a hoax that can yield no political or democratic dividend.

“As earlier advocated, an alliance with CPC and other political parties where Gen. Buhari, a time-tested leader is presented as a presidential candidate, will garner an overwhelming acceptance from Nigerians.”