NATIONAL chairman of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Dr Ogbonnaya Onu has called on members of the newly formed political party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), not to be deterred by threats from any quarter, as the hands of God is with the party.
While addressing 6,054 delegates from the 36 states of the federation and Abuja in Gusau, Zamfara State capital, Saturday, at the party's 2013 National Convention, the chairman disclosed that the time has come to change the baton, so that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would be in the list of opposition parties, considering its failure to transform the political development of the country for better.
In a solidarity message, chief Bisi Akande, national chairman of the Action Congress of Nigeria and one of the brains behind the merger plans said the challenge is to reorganise the country and save it from imminent collapse under the poor leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party.
In a similar message, Femi Fanikayode, a former aide of Olusegun Obasanjo said he congratulates the ACN, CPC and ANPP on their various conventions and their final resolutions to merge into the new party called the APC. He said the merger provides hope for Nigeria and represents the only vehicle and platform that can deliver the country from the hands of the PDP and the Jonathan administration.
Onu said: "...do not be afraid, for what we are doing today in this Convention, it shall give birth to a new life that will produce something bigger for the happiness of all and the good of our country. We are on the move. The hand of God is with us," said Onu.
He noted that the merger, when fully realised, would strengthen the unity of the country as one people with a common destiny, to work and defeat the bad governance led by PDP in the past fourteen years. He pointed out that APC would seek and pursue the happiness of all Nigerians, particularly the weak, the poor, the oppressed and the disadvantaged among the citizens.
While confessing that the project is being encountered with challenges, he was quick to maintain that efforts are being made by all the stakeholders to overcome the challenges, which will eventually lead to the victory of the project.
Akande said "our undying quest to refocus and, possibly, to re-fix this massively endowed but hugely debased country has made us to set aside our individual interests for a larger national one. For every PDP's years of the locust, we are offering, in exchange, a new regime of prosperity, fiscal discipline, security and a more emancipated society."
Fanikayode in his message said, "I salute those that have found the courage to stand up against the tyranny, blackmail, pettiness and incompetence of the Jonathan administration and I, together with millions of others, stand shoulder to shoulder with them in their quest to restore and resurrect the fortunes of our country."
Ogbonnaya contended that it was for the reasons that progressives felt there must be change, saying that, the resolve to defeat PDP in subsequent elections in the land was conceived.
He advised PDP to start planning for their exit as Nigerians are yearning for change, pointing out that the process for change has just started for the merger of the three dominant political parties in the country.
Earlier, Chairman of the convention who is also the Zamfara State Governor, Abdulaziz Yari Abubakar said the occasion demonstrated the party's commitment towards the reality of the new party that will bring the end of PDP bad government in the country, saying APC will guarantee security, power stability, economic and human development for the country.
The Guardian
They have no cause to be afraid of anything. It's better they just take things calmly. Let's hope there wont be crisis