Mega party adopts new name

The much-talked about mega party appears to be taking shape as the proponents were said to have recently adopted the name Action Democratic Party of Nigeria (ADPN).

The name is to be unveiled at a strategic meeting scheduled for Abuja on Monday, December 19, sources close to the party said on Friday.

It was gathered that proponents of the party, who have been holding informal meetings all along, have decided to come into the open at least to some extent.

It was gathered that the name, Action Democratic Party of Nigeria, was being proposed to take care of all interests in the proposed mega political coalition.

Sources in the polity told Saturday Tribune that leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the All Progressives Congress (APC), the Labour Party (LP), Accord Party (AP) and the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM), among others, were the brains behind the emerging political front.

“The idea is to showcase the rebirth of politics in Nigeria by launching a solid party with bases across the geopolitical zones. The party would be so broad-based to the extent that very few political structures can withstand its spread,” a source in the know said.

It was gathered that some key leaders of the party have scheduled a meeting for Abuja on Monday to kickstart strategic alliance that would give birth to the new party.

It was gathered that while some leaders of the new party who were still in the ruling APC have asked to be excused from the open sessions, some members of PDP will start romancing the mega arrangement openly from Monday.

Chairman of the PDP Caretaker Committee, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, said during the week that the party would be open to alliance talks ahead of the 2019 elections, though he added that the party might not change its name and identity.

Aggrieved leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and factional leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the South West zone have flagged off consultations as regards their association with the emerging mega political party which is set to berth on the horizon ahead of the 2019 general election.

Investigations by Saturday Tribune indicated during the week that the leaders appeared to be engaged in a sort of rat race on the opposing ends of the negotiations.

While a crop of loyalists of Senator Alli Modu Sherrif in PDP were said to be seeking to supplant those whose exit from APC is said to be “very near,” some leaders of APC, on the other hand, are said to have set target as to the timing of their exit from the ruling party.

Insiders in the two parties confirmed to Saturday Tribune that though proponents of the new party are still weighing the last plausible option for its emergence, leaders of APC and the opposing factions of PDP in the zone have concluded arrangements to join the party “at the right time.”

A source in the party claimed that organisers of the new party were looking at three options, including that of merger, alliance and acquisition of an existing platform.

While some sources said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), as presently constituted, might make merger difficult, the leaders have proposed that an alliance or acquisition might be the way out.

“We would not mind jettisoning the existing platforms and moving en masse to a new platform, if the merger option is being encumbered,” a leader of the emerging party said on Friday, adding that the 2013 template adopted by APC  however remained the first on the table.

It was confirmed that some key leaders of the Sheriff faction of  PDP have kickstarted discussions with leaders of APC which were seen as not loyal to Senator Bola Tinubu to prepare the way for their entry to APC, once the Tinubu loyalists exit the party.

The Sheriff faction in the South West, which celebrated the adoption of Jimoh Ibrahim as the governorship candidate of PDP in the Ondo governorship election, was said to have got demoralised when the Court of Appeal ordered his name removed by INEC.

However, leaders of that faction are said to have started warming up for their entry to APC so they could supplant aggrieved APC members set to join the mega party.

It was learnt that a former deputy governor and a former member of the PDP National Working Committee (NWC) have made personal contacts with leaders of APC in the South West other than Tinubu with a view to changing camps.

Sources however said that APC leaders told the loyalists of Sheriff faction that they were still studying their proposal for membership of the ruling party, even as it was however learnt that the emergence of the new mega party was just a matter of time as the forces behind the party have already concluded plans on the way forward.

“What you will see is a part of APC and a part of PDP moving together to form a new party. The same will occur on the other end, where we have seen the Sheriff faction concluding arrangements to join APC. This will be the bi-polar arrangement that will dominate the 2019 political process,” a source said on Friday.