Floats own party, names Waku BoT chair
By Patrick Andrew
Abuja
Ahead of the 2019 presidential contest, the North Central states have resolved never to play second fiddle in the nation’s political equation.
To this end, the geo-political zone has concluded plans to float a political party with the sole intention of forming the next central government in 2019.
The zone has, through its pan socio-cultural organisation- the Unity Bridge, formed the Action Democratic Party (ADP).
Already, necessary administrative processes for the registration of the party have been completed and forms to that effect submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for necessary approval.
This was unveiled yesterday in Abuja at the maiden meeting of the association’s Board of Trustees (BoT), where Senator Joseph Waku was formally appointed chairman of the board, while Honourable Musa Amanga will serve as the board secretary.
Making the intention of the pan socio-cultural manifest, the convener of the meeting Engr. Yagbagi Yusuf Sani, said six states resolved “to realign and liberate themselves from the claws of political enslavement to other zones within the northern region by coming
together to engender socio-cultural cum political awareness amongst its people as well as build a common front for political and economic interests.”
The group said, though its focus would be to strengthen bond, maximise its multicultural, religious, language and numerical strength, the ADP will serve as its vanguard in the pursuit of its leadership aspiration and be a credible voice in the political equation of Nigeria.
It regretted that over the years, the other zones in the north had taken them for a ride in spite of their huge human and natural resources, stressing that concerned elements in the region have been strategising to alter the status quo, reposition the North Central for its pride of place in the country.
“We are all too familiar with our situation as a people of North Central in the Nigerian equation.
We are too familiar with our political, economic and social fortunes turning misfortunes as a people.
“We all know how ‘valuable’ our zone is to other zones in terms of how they take advantage of our numerical strength whenever it matters, only for us to be jettisoned along the way.
“There is no need mentioning how far below our zone is on the ladder of economic development of Nigeria. We have realised how needlessly divided our people are on many fronts on account of political and economic calculations that do not in short and long runs ,benefit us,”
They lamented their woes in spite of the strategic roles the zone had played at various critical stages of Nigeria’s political development, by bringing the nation out of seemingly intractable political challenges, but regretted that it has not benefitted from the common weal.
“Our resolve to encourage the political arm of The Bridge Nigerians to rescue, to collaborate with other geo-political zones of Nigeria, to embark on fulfilling the requirement by INEC, to provide a formidable political platform for discerning Nigerians and to rescue the nation from the impending political logjam,” he said.
According to him, its political committee had initially planned to collapse into either of the two major political parties, but discovered that both were not only embroiled in self-inflicted divisive conflicts that would soon consume them, but also bereft of the vision and capacity
to take Nigeria out of the woods.
According to the convener, the Unity Bridge intends to function like existing pan socio-cultural groups such as Ohaneze, Afenifere, among others which also have their political wings like All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and Alliance for Democracy (AD), which force them into political reckoning in their respective regions and the nation at large.
Thirty members of the BoT representing six states attended the inaugural meeting. Some of the notable names associated with The Unity Bridge are former Governor Fidelis Tapgun, Senators Yusuf Nagogo, Gwadebe, Solomon Ewuga, Mike Omeiri, the immediate past DG National Orientation, Prof. M.V. Slyvester, Chief Mike Nku, Dr. Emmanuel Onucheyi, Sarah Jibril, Ambassador Bagudu Hirse, Hon. Sam Gyaung, among others.
