As alliance talk between the Action Congress of Nigeria and the Congress for Progressive Change breaks down, the ACN national chairman, Bisi Akande has announced that it's presidential candidate, Nuhu Ribadu will contest Saturday's election.
Mr. Akande said in a press statement today that though discussions were held between the two parties to explore opportunities of coming together to fight the presidential of the Peoples Democratic Party, Goodluck Jonathan, such talks have not led to any alliance.
"We as a party that believes in democratic values have therefore decided that in the overall interest of the parties involved, our democracy as well as our country, it is better for each of the parties to go into the presidential election on its own platform," Mr Akande said.
He however did not rule out the possibility that talks will resume if the presidential election ended without a clear winner, thus requiring a run off.
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AHEAD of Saturday’s presidential election, the much touted possible alliance between the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), against the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), at
the poll has finally collapsed.
National chairman of the ACN, Chief Bisi Akande, who disclosed this at a press conference in Abuja, on Wednesday, lamented that all efforts to either forge an alliance or merge with the CPC had failed, as the leadership of the CPC was foot-dragging on the negotiations.
Chief Akande, who confirmed that the ACN had been receiving several overtures and representations from the PDP presidential candidate, President Goodluck Jonathan, through political associates, friends, traditional rulers and other well-meaning Nigerians, lamented that the ACN could not work with the PDP because of ideological barriers.
He said: “We have ideological barrier with the PDP, that is why we cannot work together. But we in ACN believe in the ideology of the CPC and we have respect for its leadership; so, we are ready to form alliance with the party or merge with it to fight the PDP but unfortunately, there has not been any pact with them because they are not forthcoming.”
According to Chief Akande, “it is true that President Jonathan has been reaching out to us in the ACN in recent times, through our friends, political associates, traditional rulers and other well-meaning Nigerians, but we cannot work with him because of the company he keeps in the PDP. We like him as a person and we have a lot of respect for him.”
According to Chief Akande, “the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), wishes to inform all its teeming supporters as well as all Nigerians that there is no alliance between the party and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), ahead of Saturday’s presidential election.
“While it is true that representatives of both parties have engaged in talks aimed at forging an alliance that could dislodge the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the clueless party that has frittered away the huge opportunities that could have transformed our great country in the past 12 years, we regret to announce that such talks have not led to any alliance,” he lamented.
Consequently, he said, “we, as a party that believes in democratic values, have, therefore, decided that in the overall interest of the parties involved, our democracy, as well as our country, it is better for each of the parties to go into the presidential election on its own platform.”
He, however, said that if at the end of the election on Saturday there was no clear winner, the ACN would take a decision on which way to go in the overall interest of all Nigerians.
Chief Akande also debunked speculations that a chieftain of the ACN, Senator Bola Tinubu, had a secret deal with President Jonathan on the presidential election, saying “this is not true. I have been with Senator Tinubu since Monday. We have been attending meetings together; there was no time he went to meet with President Jonathan. He never boarded any presidential jet as reported in the media.”
Chief Akande recalled how the presidential candidate of the CPC, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), in 2006 suddenly abandoned then Action Congress (AC) after being in robust discussion with the party throughout 2005 to contest the 2007 election on the ticket of the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP).
Again, he said the party resumed discussions with Buhari in October 2010 over the 2011 elections, after he (Buhari) personally visited him (Akande) at his Ogudu Lagos home on the need to work together.
As a result of this, the ACN leadership set up a three-man committee made up of Mr Rauf Aregbesola, now governor of Osun State; Dr Kayode Fayemi, Ekiti State governor and former governor of Ekiti State, Mr Niyi Adebayo, to iron out areas of agreement with Buhari’s team.
The committee submitted its report on October 25, only to later discover that the Buhari team had entered into an agreement with the International Centre for Reconstruction and Development (ICRD), also known as Save Nigeria Group and had resolved that the CPC would produce the president while SNG would produce the vice-president in an agreement that was witnessed and signed by Dr Almajiri Geidam and Aminu Bello Masari for theCPC and Dr Gbolahan B. Bakare and Yinka Odumakin for the SNG.
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