By Kolawole Ojebisi
The New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) has said the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is spearheading and fueling the crisis rocking some of the opposition parties in the country.
The NNPP said the ruling party is doing this so as to retain power beyond 2027.
Ajuji Ahmed, the National Chairman of the NNPP, said this at the flag-off campaign for the party’s Ondo state governorship candidate, Olugbenga Edema, in Akure, on Thursday.
Ahmed accused the APC of interfering with the internal affairs of the opposition parties by causing division among members to weaken the parties’ structure and take control.
He noted that there is a deliberate effort by the APC to prevent opposition parties from presenting a strong and united front which will enable them to wrest the reins of power from the ruling party come 2027.
According to him, this development by the APC is coming amid plans by the opposition leaders to hold a “merger talk” to dislodge the ruling party ahead of the general elections.
“The APC is doing everything it can in order to win the 2027 general election. Certainly, there is evidence everywhere that they are interfering in other party.
“But it is left to the other political party to maintain their integrity and ensure they remain one and viable opposition to the APC before and after the 2027 election.”
He declared that the ruling APC should be prepared to hand over power after President Bola Tinubu’s government, stressing that the NNPP is in collaboration with opposition parties to form alliance ahead of 2027 poll.
“So, we have our doors open in such a way that if there is going to be a coalition of all the political parties to go into the election, we are ready for that,” the NNPP chairman added.
He said NNPP is ready to capture Ondo, pleading with the people to troop out en-masse and vote Edema, in the election.
He described Edema as a party loyalist whose programmes and policies for the people of the state would put an end to the economic crisis and current hardship caused by the government of the APC.
Speaking at the campaign venue, Edema, asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to give a level-playing ground to all the political parties in the upcoming election.
The NNPP governorship candidate also noted that the party is ready to spring surprise in the forthcoming election, warning the electoral body not to repeat the alleged ‘electoral fraud’ in Edo state.
“The last one was what happened in Edo state with the fraud. How they went to all the collation centres and manipulated the results of the election that were sent from the polling units was worrisome.
“They took the result from collation centres to INEC headquarters, which is contrary agianst electoral act which states that you should do your couting at the venue where the election was conduct.
“Therefore, we are saying Ondo state is not Edo state. Ondo is not Lagos state. The people of Ondo are one of the most enlightened in the whole country, and we are capable of protecting our votes, and we will protect it. We do not fare them. We will dare them,” he said.
Recall that all the major opposition parties in the country are currently embroiled in one internal wranglings or the other.
Efforts by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to resolve its crisis through the National Working Committee (NWC) on Tuesday hit the brickwall.
The labour party is having problem with its national leadership structure while the NNPP is fragmented into factions as a group just emerged, led by one Gilbert Agbo, rebelling against the authority of the Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso’s leadership.
