CPC, ACN leaders’ power sharing talks: el-Rufai may emerge secretary of new party •ACN to produce chairman

MOVES to ensure a merger of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and the Action Congress of Nigeria(ACN) ahead of the 2015 general elections appeared to have reached a peak last week following agreements that the General Secretaries of the two parties would resign their positions anytime soon to pave the way for the emergence of a unified Secretary General,

just as there are strong indications that Mallam Nasir el-Rufai may emerge as the new party’s secretary

It was gathered that a meeting of the leadership of CPC held on May 29 briefed some chieftains of the party on the conclusions reached with the ACN on the planned merger ahead of 2015.

The meeting, held in Abuja, had intimated some members of the National Executive Committee of the CPC that agreements have been reached with leaders of ACN, which would see the General Secretaries of the two parties resign their positions and pave the way for the emergence of a new Secretary General for the emerging party.

Leaders of the two parties believe that with such a merger, a presidential ticket of General Muhammadu Buhari and Senator Bola Tinubu could then be feasible in 2015, while el-Rufai, who is believed to be nursing presidential ambition, is wooed with the position of Secretary General.

The said meeting, which was briefed by the national chairman of the CPC, Prince Tony Momoh, was said to have informed participants, of the outcome of negotiations between leaders of the CPC and the ACN.

According to a source at the meeting, one of the key decisions reached with leaders of ACN was that the General Secretary of each of the parties “should resign their respective appointments, as part of the moves towards the planned political alliance/merger.”

Sources also confirmed that the CPC National Chairman told the meeting that Mallam Nasir el-Rufai has been proposed as the new Secretary-General when the envisaged political merger eventually sails through. The ACN is expected to produce the new National Chairman.

But the moves was said to be generating tension within the ranks of the embattled CPC, as some of its chieftains bent on sacking the current leadership were said to have intensified their actions.

Sources also said that the incumbent General Secretary, Alhaji Buba Galadima, a key actor in the party, was opposed to the proposed merger as he was of the view that any merger with the CPC would work in favour of the uprising led by Senator Rufai Hanga.

Sources close to the party said that the planned merger was already being threatened as a result of Galadima's opposition and that when issues of Galadima's conduct was raised at the meeting, the whole show came to an abrupt end. Galadima and his followers were said to be of the view that dissolving the CPC into ACN could play into the hands of  the Senator Hanga-led opposition.

According to sources, Galadima and his close associates were pushing the position that it was too early to be calling for a merger between the CPC and the ACN.

Their position according to sources is hinged on the fact that if the move goes ahead, it would mean that, the attempts by Senator Sani Rufai Hanga and his group to see an end of the CPC, have eventually succeeded.

The Galadima loyalists in the party were said to have raised the alarm that Senator Hanga and his supporters might be playing to the tunes of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), which was alleged to have funded some dissidents within the CPC.

...Niger ACN, PDP trade words over merger talk

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Niger State chapter of the  Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN,) Captain Abubakar Isah Mokwa (rtd.), has described the planned merger between the party and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) as the only way that the needed change within the nation’s polity could be achieved.

Isah,who spoke to journalists  last weekend   in Minna, said that the nation’s woes could only be addressed if there were changes rather than a political party that constantly rigged her self to power.

He said that the state chapter of ACN was ready for the merger if the talks between the two leaders of the parties worked out as anticipated.

The chairman noted that even before the merger talks, the party and CPC have been having a very good working understanding because  it was obvious that such understanding was the only way to save Niger State from the clutches of the ruling PDP.

“You can see that because we are not happy with what is happening in Niger State, we called meetings of stakeholders  from across  the 25 local government areas of the state to discuss the way forward. We can not keep quiet to allow things to go bad,” he declared.

He said though 2015 was a long way off, the party had decided to plan properly ahead so that the party would not be taken by surprise.

But in a quick reaction, the  state’s chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) argued that no amount of gang up could stop it from winning future elections in the  state because the party was firmly on the ground.

The party stated this through its publicity secretary, Alhaji Hassan Saba, while reacting to  plans by the opposition  parties in the state  to team up against the PDP for the 2015 general elections.

Saba however  stressed  that the PDP was not moved by the plan because similar arrangement in 2011 did not only fail but the working alliance played up by the parties threw up the greed between the leaderships of the parties.

He described the PDP as a grassroots political movement loved by the masses because of the brilliant performances of its elected and appointed representatives at all levels.

“Some of these so called politicians cannot deliver their wards not to talk of their local government areas. How can such people uproot the PDP?” Saba asked.

Dissolution of national executive: cpc alleges plot to destabilise party

Meanwhile, the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) has accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of precipitating crisis within the party as a ploy to disorganise the CPC before the 2015 election.

Apparently reacting to the dissolution of the national executives of the CPC and composition of another one, the Plateau State chapter of the party in a statement signed by its chairman, Alhaji Mubbashiru Aliyu said the PDP perceived the party as an albatross to checkmate it ahead of the 2015 election.

He said the PDP was afraid of the recent rising profile of the party and  believed that the only option in taming it was to sponsor internal crisis within the CPC and felt that this was the appropriate time.

Alhaji Aliyu added that the positive move by the CPC to form a formidable merger with the Action Congress of Nigeria was giving the PDP some worry hence, the plan to frustrate the merger.

“When General Mohammadu Buhari boldly and clearly stated that the CPC will no longer tolerate or allow unconstitutional act in the conduct of the 2015 general elections and any attempt to do so would meet stiff resistance, the PDP became jittery and felt the earlier they struck the better, hence their action,” he said.

He said the Plateau chapter of the CPC  has disassociated itself from the group that branded itself the new executive of the party at the national level, adding that the state chapter remained loyal to the legally elected  leadership of the party under the chairmanship of Chief Tony Momoh

Said he: “Happily, the disgruntled elements have disclosed that they would seek redress in the court of law. We wholeheartedly welcome the idea but we are bold to say that they have put the cart before the horse and the court is willing and ready to interpret same.”