Merger talks between the main opposition parties in the country
- Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN); ANPP; and
Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) – are still ongoing. Sources have
revealed, however, that ANPP is divided over the current talks with CPC. The
ANPP's chairman, Ogbonnaya Onu, is reportedly in favour of the
merger. The new chairman of the party's Board of Trustees, former Borno State
governor Ali Modu Sheriff, is said to be opposed to the merger
with CPC.
Sheriff defeated the ANPP's 2011 presidential candidate,
Ibrahim Shekarau, to clinch the chairmanship and this has
apparently upset Shekarau. In a bid to calm the latter's ruffled feathers,
Bashir Tofa, who is from Shekarau's home state of Kano, is said
to have been offered the position of chair of ANPP's merger committee. Tofa has,
however, declined because of Shekarau and Yobe State's governor, Ibrahim
Geidam, was chosen instead. Meanwhile, it appears that former Sokoto
State governor, Attahiru Bafarawa, who is an ANPP chieftain,
may be tilting in favour of merging with CPC. He recently visited CPC leader,
Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, at his home in Kaduna State, ostensibly
to discuss the disunity in the North.
For more news and expert
analysis about Nigeria, please see Nigeria Focus and Nigeria
Politics & Security.
© 2012 Menas Associates
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