A major political realignment took place on Monday as 38 opposition political parties and the Reformed All Progressive Congress (R-APC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to contest the 2019 general elections under one platform.
The parties include the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Social Democratic Party (SDP), Labour Party (LP), Progressives Peoples Alliance and African Democratic Congress (ADC).
They agreed to collaborate under the name “Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP)” to unseat President Muhammadu Buhari.
The signing of the MOU which held after a meeting at the Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja came less than one week after some members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), President Buhari’s party, announced the formation of R-APC.
The R-APC headed by Buba Galadima, a former ally of the president, is believed to have the backing of the nPDP bloc within the APC.
The nPDP comprises of members of the then ruling PDP who defected to the APC before the 2015 polls. Its members include Senate President Bukola Saraki and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara.
A former foreign minister and member of the PDP, Tom Ikimi, who read the MOU after the meeting that lasted some hours, said the parties would produce a single presidential candidate to run against Mr Buhari whose first term will expire in May, 2019. Just before the signing of the MOU, Tom Ikimi read out its details, which he said was basically to unseat the president.
See the full text of the statement read by PDP's Tom Ikimi below:
“CUPP is determined to replace the present day APC federal government with a new and acceptable national unity government in 2019. The parties shall promote the emergence of a government that will usher in abundant peace, happiness, prosperity and ensure safety of lives and property inside the true and well-structured Nigerian federation. The parties shall work together to ensure the emergence of a joint presidential candidate of which modalities for the …process shall be under a separate agreement by the parties. The parties shall promote a positive reaction to the above being said and to give hope to all our people.”
Mr Ikimi, who hosted the meetings that led to the birth of the APC in his Abuja home in 2013, said all the parties in the coalition agreed to ensure that they work together “in support of a single presidential candidate to contest the 2019 presidential election, in order to successfully dethrone and enthrone a true democrat who will salvage the nation from the misrule of the APC government.”
He further revealed that, “The parties shall promote acceptable core values for the restructuring of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, secure lives and properties, rebuild and redirect our nation’s economy.On the modalities of choosing candidates for the elections. The parties accept the policy of zoning political and elective offices, states or geopolitical zones.”
According to him, the coalition would prepare the blueprint manifesto which would be a covenant with the Nigerian people to promote and ensure common national interest.
The National Chairman of the PDP, Uche Secondus, said the coalition was ready for the 2019 elections. He asked President Buhari to be answerable for the ongoing killings, adding that the lives of Nigerians were important hence the establishment of the coalition.
Mr Secondus said the government to-be formed by the coalition would restore security to the country and protect lives and properties. In his words, “The president must take responsibility to stop this killings on our land. As we go on this journey as our past leaders have done, I want to assure our people that we are coming strong. This alliance is coming strong and we are ready for all elections in our country, unless they are not ready. You cannot force the people, you cannot rig election in our country. Enough is enough. You are depending on rigging, you will fail.”
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