LAGOS, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA) – A pioneer member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Osita Okechukwu, has criticised the recent calls for political parties to merge in order to remove the governing party.
Okechukwu has specifically criticized former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s mention of the opposition’s victory in the recent presidential election in Senegal as a reason for his call, stating that it lacks proper contextual basis.
Recall that Atiku while congratulating the Senegalese President-elect, Bassirou Faye noted: āLast Saturdayās election in Senegal follows the trend of that in Nigeria in 2015 that the opposition can indeed be victorious in an election conducted by the ruling party.
āAnd for the opposition parties, the lessons are in agreement with my persistent call for our opposition parties to forge a coalition that is formidable enough to oust the ruling party if the salvaging of Nigeria is to stand any chance.ā
In Abuja on Sunday, Okechukwu, a member of the merger committee that formed APC, dismissed these calls and their flawed premises.
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āFirst of all, on the possibility that the persistent call for opposition political parties to forge a formidable coalition to oust the APC like the PDP was defeated in 2015, Okechukwu said circumstances on the ground differ remarkably.
āSecondly, dethroning an incumbent president should not be a political pastime, but as a practical political consciousness to remove an underperforming administration,ā Okechukwu stated.
The ex-DG of VON emphasised that the contrast in Nigeria’s socio-economic situation from 2015 to 2024 is evident. Despite the challenges, both local and international communities acknowledge President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration for its courage, vision, and focus.
āYes, my understanding is that Atiku was referring to the current socio-economic hardship, but the truth is that whether you like it or not President Tinubu has focus. In 2015, under President Goodluck Jonathan, there was little or no hope.
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āLuckily, Mr President has with his economic reforms, won the confidence of the international community. All he needs is to domesticate his economic programme to benefit the greatest number of Nigerians,ā he said.
On the possibility that the persistent calls for merger hyped by Atiku for opposition political parties to forge a formidable coalition to oust the APC like the PDP was defeated in 2015, Okechukwu said circumstances on the ground make that a hectic tall order.
āAs a political scientist, he believes that a formidable opposition coalition is a healthy tonic for Nigeriaās democracy, however, it is incumbent on Atiku, Utomi and co-travellers to convince Nigerians on which economic philosophy the coalition would be anchored upon.
āNigerians know that all the leading presidential candidates in 2023 were all neo-liberals. For instance, like Tinubu, Atiku and Obi agreed to remove fuel subsidies and to harmonise the foreign exchange rate.
Ā Ā āSince they all belong to the neo-liberal school of thought and are capitalists, they better support Mr President, because the success of Tinubuās economic reforms is better for such students more than those of us who subscribe to the belief that government has business in our welfare.āĀ Ā
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Okechukwu however contended that in the face of the current excruciating economic hardship driving the majority of Nigerians into abject poverty, even Mr President appreciates the suffering but assures that thereās light at the end of the tunnel.
He remarked: āTwo things are going positively for President Tinubu. One is that the buy-in of the international community is high, which means that foreign direct investment which propels prosperity is guaranteed over time.
āSecondly, unlike President Muhammadu Buhari, whose rising tide of expectations was high at inception on issues like anti-graft war and economic empowerment, that of Tinubu is starkly low.
āThis is to say that not much was expected from President Tinubu from the onset. The bottom line is that he will garner local buy-in with time instead of declining expectations.ā
The APC Chieftain reminded merger canvassers to study the large-hearted political engineering that enabled opposition to take over in Senegal, recalling how in 2014, Ousmane Sonko invited his friend and fellow tax collector, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, and other emergent political actors to form a political party ā African Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics and Fraternity (PASTEF).
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Okechukwu noted that PASTEF or Patriots of Senegal, which was led by Sonko was dominated by young Senegalese with Faye serving as the Secretary-General while Sonko was the leader.
He stated: āI want to inform the former Vice President that in 2017, although PASTEF only secured one seat out of 165 in the Legislative election, in 2019, Sonko contested as the Presidential candidate, while Faye was his campaign manager.
āThen, three years later, PASTEF garnered 56 out of the 165 seats contested at the National Assembly election. The 2022 election showed that Sonko has emerged as a strong contender for the 2024 Presidential poll.
āSonko and Faye were jailed and released by President Macky Sall less than 12 days to the election, Sanko endorsed Faye as his presidential candidate and Senegalese people joined to elect him as President.ā