The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) says it would not be jittery over ongoing moves by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and other leading opposition political parties to merge and form a formidable force ahead of the 2027 poll.
APC’s national publicity secretary, Mr Felix Morka at a press conference in Abuja remarked that there was nothing out of the ordinary in the move since the APC was a product of merger of political parties of like minds prior to the 2015 poll.
Morka assured that the APC have the wherewithal to withstand any gang up by opposition political parties in the country.
The proposed merger involved a coalition of opposition political parties comprising PDP the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), the African Democratic Congress (ADC), the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), the Social Democratic Party (SDP), the Young Progressives Party (YPP) and the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).
The movement tagged ‘the Coalition of Concerned Political Parties (CCPP)’ was formed in Abuja earlier in the week at a meeting attended by leaders of the seven political parties at the National Secretariat of the SDP.
The initiative is believed to have been preempted by the former vice president and presidential candidate of the PDP in the 2023 general elections, Atiku Abubakar who had called on opposition parties to come together to wrestle power from the APC in the 2027 poll.
Morka who bared his mind on the outcome of the Kogi governorship poll won by APC’s candidate, Mr Ahmed Ododo called on the opposition SDP and PDP candidates, Murtala Yakubu Ajaka and Sen Dino Melaye to accept the results in good faith instead of indulging in any act that could lead to the breakdown of law and order in the state.
Saying Dino’s decision not to approach the courts did not come to the party as a surprise, he said it behooves Ajaka the court decision on his petition against the declaration of Ododo as winner of the Kogi state governorship poll.
The delta born chieftain of the party also distanced the APC from attacks on officials of the resident electoral commissioner (REC) in Kogi state.
Said he: “The Kogi election result which was declared by INEC was in favour of APC. The APC has no incentive to destabilize the state after winning the elections. We won election, we are the incumbent in Kogi state. Why will our government create state of anarchy in a state that we control?”