Any possible merger of political parties aimed at ousting the ruling All Progressives Congress at the centre during the 2027 general elections will not see the light of the day unless the masterminds drop their personal interests.
The former Chairman of APC in Enugu State, Dr Ben Nwoye, stated this in Enugu on Thursday during a programme. He however said it would be in the interest of democracy if there was a strong opposition, but played down anything concrete coming from the merger of Alh Atiku Abubakar, Mr Peter Obi and Engr Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.
Atiku was the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Obi was that of the Labour Party while Kwankwaso was the standard-bearer of the New Nigerian Peoples Party during the 2023 elections. It was won by APC’s Ahmed Bola Tinubu.
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There have been reports of a possible merger of the trio. Nwoye said because it was unlikely for any of them to cede their presidential ambitions, the talk was dead on arrival.
According to him, “The so-called merger ahead of 2027 polls will be a welcome development. For democracy to thrive, there should be competition. But if the merger is self-serving, it will fail. It will be a case of strange bed fellows.
“Remember that Atiku, Obi and Kwankwaso are originally of PDP. In fact, people forget that Obi was Atiku’s running mate during the 2019 presidential election. So, their coming together again can’t be called a merger.”
Nwoye, however, admitted that if Atiku, Obi and Kwankwaso had jettisoned their selfish interests, the outcome of the 2023 elections would have been different.
He said, “If they had stayed together and ceded their ambitions to one of them, PDP should have defeated APC going by the ratio of votes cast. But the problem with our politics is that Nigerian politicians are simply after their personal interests. So, it has been a case of self-serving.”
On alleged crisis in APC, Nwoye said, “There is no implosion in APC. APC has been solid. The truth is that after party primaries, there must be crises. This is because Nigerians hardly accept defeat. Every contestant will claim they won. That creates tension and litigations. It is not perculiar to APC.”