Chieftains of the Congress for Progressive Change and the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) have met in Kaduna to work on a common agenda on how to take the country forward.
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Chieftains of the Congress for Progressive Change and the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) have met in Kaduna to work on a common agenda on how to take the country forward.
Former Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and two ACN governors, Kayode Fayemi and Ibikunle Amosun, met with General Muhammadu Buhari of the CPC to consider the challenge of the 2015 elections.
The focus of the meeting, our sources said, concerned modalities for possible CPC-ACN merger ahead of 2015 elections, and how to vote the increasingly unpopular People’s Democratic Party, blighted by corruption and bad governance, out of power.
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On Buhari’s side at the meeting, which took place at the home of the CPC boss, were a former FCT Minister, Mr. Nasir El-Rufai, who arrived from the United Kingdom; the Deputy National Chairman of CPC, Mohammed Salihu; and Senator Abu Ibrahim, among others.
The meeting, which lasted about four hours, was held under closed doors, reportedly at the instance of the ACN team, in order to guarantee their sincerity and commitment to the proposed merger.
Our sources also told us that certain eminent personalities on both sides were absent at the meeting. They include Prince Tony Momoh, chair of the CPC; Chief Bisi Akande, Malam Nuhu Ribadu and Pastor Tunde Bakare.
After the meeting, Tinubu and General Buhari met with members of the press, and Tinubu confirmed that the meeting between the two parties was on how to work together to save Nigeria.
Among his remarks were the following:
• “I would rather allow you to make good assumption on the merger or to wait until the pigeon is out of the bag.”
• “We don’t want to be perpetually in the opposition. Every politician wants the opportunity to govern. We are here about national patriotism, about the direction the country is going and the need for a change and that change might be about us forming the government of our own.”
• “We must promote, at any cost, the course of free and fair election and rule of law because it is so critical to our national development and growth. This is the area that we can conquer poverty and fight so many things.”
• “Every democrat must resist the abuse of power, manipulation and irregular victory in elections. Politics is not a darkroom event; it is about openness, transparency and about how to work with one another to sell a common agenda. And that is the purpose that brought us here.”
Buhari, who made no statement of his own, said he concurred with all of Asiwaju Tinubu’s remarks.
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