2015: ACN, CPC fast-track alliance

Posted by admin Action Congress of Nigeria, CPC (Congress 4 Progressive Change), Party Politics Wednesday, March 14th, 2012

As the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) prepares for its national convention, two main opposition parties, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), are inching closer to an alliance ahead of the 2015 general election.

The alliance talks is progressing while the leader of the CPC Renewal Committee, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, has attributed the slow pace of work of his committee to constant disruptions due to bye-elections in many states of the federation.

Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune in Abuja, the former minister acknowledged the anxiety of some party members, saying “we are distracted due to the bye-elections and the tribunal hearings. Now the Kebbi bye-election is also coming. Immediately after that, we will increase the tempo of activities.”

Findings from the two parties indicated that their leaders have recently intensified strategy talks with old areas of misunderstanding being ironed out under what a chieftain of one the parties called “realistic assessment of strengths of alliance partners.”

It was learnt that CPC leaders have acknowledged the strength of ACN especially in the southern part of the country alongside its constant incursions into the northern zone as witnessed in the recent governorship elections in Kogi and Adamawa states.

Findings, however, revealed that the two parties are not considering a merger as that would demand more fundamental concessions which leaders of both parties appear reluctant to make due to peculiarities of both organisations.

Leaders of both parties are said to be meeting at the highest level to work out details of an electoral alliance that would see the allies fielding candidates only in their areas of strengths while supporting each other through mobilisation.

The CPC had been bogged down by internal rivalries since the conclusion of the 2011 polls with several court cases and infighting across its states chapters while the ACN is spreading its net outside the South-West zone.

-Tribunewp_posts