Reactions continued to trail Wednesday's registration of the All Progressives Congress, APC, by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, with stakeholders, including former military president, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi and the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, describing it as a welcome development for the polity.
Babangida, in an interview with journalists in Minna, Niger State, yesterday, said the APC's registration would open a stronger and vibrant political front in the country, adding that he would remain a strong supporter of the two-party system.
He said that though there were other political parties before the coming of the APC, the country now has two strong political forces in the build-up toward 2015.
He said: "I will continue to be a strong believer in twoparty system. And like the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, said, it is a welcome development because we will now have a strong and vibrant political association.
"You have the choice to either take this or take that. It is an opportunity for them now to try and talk to us, the ordinary people, and tell us what they are going to do for us and as a nation. But there are still other parties like the Labour Party, but then, we now have two strong parties."
On the likely effects of the registration for the PDP's dominance of political landscape, Babangida said: "Well, I am a person who God has not given the power to predict the future. I will wait for God. And we have a lot of time to see how it unfolds."
He also noted that the registration of the new party would introduce vibrancy in political activities as each party would try to outdo the other in selling their respective candidates to Nigerians. The ex-military president, however, urged the people to ensure that they elect good leaders.
"We have a lot of time. We will see vibrant political activity. Now, every party will like to sell its candidates to us. But we should keep insisting that the votes should count. People must be allowed to make their choice and I have only one vote out of the 60 million votes of the people."
Some chieftains of the APC were at Babangida's Minna Hilltop residence for consultation yesterday.
They include former Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Masari, who is the Deputy National Chairman of the APC; former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai and Senator Nasir Nasif. Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi, said the new mega party will provide succour to Nigeria's political pain, even as he gave kudos to patriots involved in the merger and Nigerians in general who stood by the proponents to ensure APC's eventual registration.
The governor, who spoke in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Dr. Festus Adedayo, said with the development, the progressives were now set to rescue the country "from the abyss which it had been plunged into by the reactionary elements."
The Maxi Okwu-led faction of APGA in a statement made available to National Mirror by Victor Eneh, said: "The All Progressives Grand Alliance congratulates the All Progressives Congress on its registration by the Independent National Electoral Commission. It is democracy in action. "Given the palpable tension prior to this registration (on the suspicion) that INEC was working on a script to deny the party registration, we also commend INEC for living up to its billing as an independent electoral management body.
"As a mass movement, APGA has been in the vanguard for the opening of the nation's political horizon. We have always been of the view that a minimum of two or three major political platforms contending is the much needed elixir for our democratic exercise to be viable. Our neighbours on the African continent like Ghana, Kenya, etc have all achieved this.
"Right from independence, our nation, while operating a multi-party democracy invariably gravitates towards a two-party dominance with a third leg holding the balance – The UPGA/NNA scenario by 1966 and the NPN/PPA by 1983 and the formidable tripod from NCNC-NPCAG of the First Republic to NPN-UPN-NPP of the Second Republic. We predict a three cornered race in 2015 of APGA/APC/PDP as of the old days."
The Osun State government also commended the INEC for registering the APC, describing it as courageous and valiant.
A statement by the state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Sunday Akere, said: "The new party becomes a necessity because of the torment the Peoples Democratic Party threw Nigeria into since the inception of the Fifth Republic and the eventual registration of the party is a victory for democracy and a victory for the masses, who have long sought an alternative to the PDP.
"This development has shown that if Nigerians demand changes, nothing can stop them from ing it. Many detractors have stood on the way of APC trying to stop its registration, but now their bid has failed. INEC has shown courage and a new party is born. Similarly, the lawmaker representing Lagos East Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Senator Gbenga Ashafa, gave kudos to the leadership of the new party for its steadfastness, saying that the emergence the APC was the beginning of great things to come in the polity. "A lot of kudos should be given to the leadership of the merging parties, particularly the executives and the entire membership of APC for the perseverance and tenacity in the course of getting the APC registered and approved by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
"Surely, this is the beginning of a new dawn in the political history of Nigeria, I enjoin all Nigerians to support the party in achieving the true democracy we deserve."
The governorship candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, in last year's governorship election in Ondo State, Chief Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, described the registration of APC as a good omen for Nigeria's democracy.
The former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, in a statement, said: "The news of the registration of All Progressives Congress, coming after several months of apprehension and suspicion, is soothing indeed.
"Amidst the continual socio-political occurrences of disquieting proportions, this singular adherence to constitutional provision by INEC is capable of deepening our democratic experiment in spite of its progression in fits and starts. Second Republic Presidential Adviser and northern leader, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai, said the registration of the APC would promote healthy competition in the polity.
Yakassi insisted that the country needed a viable opposition party that would attract support from Nigerians irrespective of ethnic and religious background. "Getting an opposition party that would attract the support from all parts of Nigeria is a positive development for our nascent democracy as that will go a long way in promoting national unity and integration.
Deputy Senate President in the Second Republic, Alhaji Abubakar Dan-Musa, also commended INEC for approving the registration of the APC, saying: "INEC has done the right thing; it is now left for the managers to also do what is right.
The ball is now in their court as the destiny of this party is in their hands." Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola yesterday hoisted the flag of the new party at the state secretariat of the defunct ACN.
Fashola said Nigerians must commend the party leaders, who shifted their grounds to provide alternative platform that would enable good citizens achieve the desired change.
He hailed the INEC for taking the bold step by registering the party against all odds. The governor said: "I salute their sacrifice; we all must learn an enduring lesson from their sacrifice done to get this party.
We must remember their efforts and sacrifice anytime we do anything with the APC. We must always remember that because for us to have a very bigger merger party, it would require many more sacrifices.
"This is not about the individual, it is about the nation. Individuals will come and go, but the nation will remain. For me, this is not just a merger, but history. In Nigeria's political history, this has never happened before.
"For every Goliath, there is a stone; the new party is the stone that will bring down the Goliath. This is now a choice to articulate the better change. The most I can say is congratulations for the job well done so far. As you know, the only reward that you can get for job well done is more work.
The registration of APC also elicited ovation in Imo State where a faction of APGA led by Governor Owelle Rocha Okorocha had been breathlessly awaiting the verdict of INEC on the new party. Members of the governor- led APGA were yesterday seen dancing and rejoicing on hearing the news that the party had finally been registered.
At the Government House, some political appointees from the Deputy Governor's Office sang for many hours, praising God that the new party had been registered after prolonged delay.
They said with the registration of APC, the PDP "is now in trouble" as the new party would sweep the state and the entire South-East in 2015 elections.
"We can now begin serious campaign in the state. Some members of APGA thought that the party would not be registered and that it would be a miscalculation on the part of the current administration to have taken the plunge to drag the people to APC" one appointee said.
National Mirror