By Musa Tanimu Nasidi
There are plans to bring together the Labour Party (LP) and the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) to help strengthen national spread and to defeat the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Spokesman, National Consultative Forum (NCF) and Labour Party, Dr. Yunusa Tanko, disclosed this in an interview on Arise News monitored by THEANALYSTNG in Lokoja.
When he was asked to confirm if there were plans to bring together Peter Obi of the Labour Party and Rabiu Kwankwaso of the NNPP to work together to defeat the ruling APC in the forthcoming 2023 elections, Tanko said that he cannot say categorically that they have concluded on merging the two parties, however, they were working very seriously on the merger.
According to Tanko, merging the two parties was an idea they have already seen on ground, and they felt that the Labour Party’s flag bearer, Peter Obi, who is very much grounded in the Southern part of the country needs to work together with other people who are also very grounded in the Northern part of Nigeria.
He noted that there was no crisis in LP currently, saying that the party was more solidly on ground now more than it has ever been, while describing the state of affairs in the party as crisis-free.
He said that both Obi and Kwankwaso have shown character, resilience, determination and have worked closely with people who are downtrodden. He prayed that Nigerians would give them their maximum support if their plan works out.
When asked also to speak on how Labour Party intends to leverage on Obi’s emergence and popularity, Tanko said that as a candidate, Obi has soiled himself with the Nigerian people, especially the Nigerian youths.
He reflected on how the former governor of Anambra State was able to manage the resources of his State and how he relates with the younger generation, especially those who are in school.
He recalled that at a point during Obi’s administration as the governor of Anambra State, he literally had the contacts of captains and leaders of students in secondary school so that they can have access to him so as to be able to communicate with him about what was going on in their various schools.
Tanko said that Obi’s character is the type of character they want Nigerian leaders to have.
He said that Kwankwaso, apart from endearing himself in the educational line, has also shown capacity in leadership just like Obi.
He added that Obi is not a tribal project, but Nigerian project as he does not belong to any religious or group of individuals.
He encouraged Nigerians, especially the youths to go and join membership of the Labour Party and other political parties that are working in alliance with the Labour Party.
When he was asked to describe the type of running mate he would want Obi to have, Tanko said that they were looking for a running mate who believes in the ideology of emancipating the Nigerian people from the shackles of poverty, moving them from lack of hope to hope, changing them from a consumer nation to a producing nation.
