23 governors now in APC –Lai Mohammed •No responsible PDP gov will join APC – Metuh

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The National Publicity Secretary, Action Congress of Nigeria, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, says 23 governors in Nigeria are part of the All Progressives Congress merger.

Mohammed spoke at the 7th Town Hall Meeting with constituents of Lagos Central Senatorial District organised by Senator Oluremi Tinubu, in Lagos on Friday.

Though the ACN spokesman did not give the names of the governors, he said apart from the 11 governors currently in the parties that were involved in the APC merger, 12 other governors had signified interest to be part of the APC.

Mohammed said, "The governors will make their declaration after the party is registered, likely in two weeks' time.

"We are likely to get our registration certificate by the end of June or second week of July."

He explained that the delay in submitting the APC application to the Independent National Electoral Commission was caused by the complexities of merging.

He said, "Merging is not an easy process, it is complicated. Aside from the stipulated name, constitution and logo change, each of the merging parties must hold a special convention of its party to adopt the merger."

He said contrary to speculations in some quarters, the merger would work and was very much on course.

On her part, Tinubu said the APC would guarantee hope for Nigeria.

She said, "Without the genuine change and development being advocated by the APC, Nigeria risks further descent into the abyss of underdevelopment and backwardness."

She said the bill seeking special status for Lagos in recognition of its role as the economic nerve centre of the country was imperative.

She said, "Consequently, the three senators from Lagos have sponsored a bill pursuant to Section 164 (1) of the constitution, which seeks the provision of financial grants to Lagos State in recognition of its role as the economic nerve centre of the country."

Tinubu said work on the N222.3m rehabilitation and counselling centre approved for the Lagos Central Senatorial District through the Federal Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development under the 2012 budget, was going on in Eti Osa Local Government.

Wife of Lagos State Governor, Abimbola Fashola, urged Nigerians to strive for excellence in whatever they are doing.

For Nigerian students, she said the era of total dependence on university degrees was over, urging them to embrace vocational education, where they could acquire some skills.

At the event were the Minister of State for Defence, Demola Seriki, and Lagos ACN chairman, Chief Henry Ajomole, among others.

 Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party has said none of its responsible governors will defect to the yet-to-be registered APC.

It said though there were challenges before the party now, those challenges were surmountable.

The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Chief Olisa Metuh, stated this in an interview with one of our correspondents.

Metuh said it was wrong for the spokesperson for the ACN (Mohammed) to have thought that PDP governors would defect to the APC.

He said, "APC is not an alternative to the PDP. APC is a party of extremists, party of religious bigots and tribal jingoists. It is a party doomed to fail."



The Punch

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