The All Progressives Congress (APC) on Tuesday insisted that the breakaway Reformed All Progressives Congress (R-APC) was not a faction of the ruling party.
A statement by the national publicity secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, said APC remains a united political platform under President Muhammadu Buhari’s leadership.
Last week, some aggrieved members of the ruling party announced the formation of R-APC.
The splinter group, 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.
Less than a week after the formation of the R-APC, a major political realignment in the country took place on Monday as 38 opposition political parties and the 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 work together under the name “Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP)” to unseat President Muhammadu Buhari.
A former Minister of Foreign Affairs 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 Buhari whose first term expires in May next year.
“CUPP is determined to replace the present day APC federal government with a new and acceptable national unity government in 2019,” he said.
“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.”
But the APC said such gang-up will not deter President Buhari from accomplishing the task of ridden Nigeria of corruption and improving the quality of lives of the people.
Below is the full statement:
On Monday July 9, 2018, a group of individuals under the so-called ‘Reformed All Progressives Congress’ platform purportedly joined a coalition of opposition political parties ahead of the 2019 general elections.
We respect the right of everyone to join any association or group. However, we wish to reiterate that the so-called R-APC is not a faction of our Party. Our Party, the APC remains united under the leadership of our President, H.E. Muhammadu Buhari.
It is also noteworthy that some political parties that have been named as signatories to the MoU have disassociated themselves from the publicised deal.
We once again reiterate the commitment of our Party to address real grievances of our genuine members. We call on them to take advantage of this opportunity while the windows for reconciliation are still open.
We are confident that no level of gang-up can make our government under President Buhari to waiver in its promises to Nigerians to rid our country of corruption and improve the quality of lives for our people.
SIGNED:
Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi
National Publicity Secretary
