15 parties form coalition for 2019

By Bode Olagoke Abuja

Preparations seem to have begun in earnest ahead of 2019 general elections as 15 registered parties have formed a new political group, Coalition for a New Nigeria (CNN), to fi eld a consensus candidate in the next presidential election. Th e political parties are Labour Party (LP), Alliance for Democracy (LD), Democratic Peoples Congress (DPC), Action Alliance (AA), Progressives Peoples Alliance (PPA), Young Democratic Party (YDP), Democratic Alternative (DA) and National Conscience Party (NCP). Others are Peoples Democratic Change (PDC), United Democratic Party (UDP) and National Action Congress (NAC). Addressing newsmen during the offi cial public presentation of the new group yesterday in Abuja, National Chairman of the Labour Party, who doubles as the Coalition’s Chairman, Alhaji Abdulkadir Abdulsalam, said all the parties involved would work together to ensure that its common candidate emerged victorious at the next elections. “

After several consultations and cordial discussions on the political and economic situation of the country, we the following political parties to be known and addressed as Coalition for a New Nigeria to chat a positive course for a new Nigeria,” he said. Another member of the Coalition and the National Chairman of the Democratic People’s Congress (DPC), Olusegun Peters, said that intention of the Coalition “is to fi eld a consensus candidate for the next presidential election.” “This Coalition has been working and strategising for three months to see how we can run a successful government in Nigeria to effect the real change in the country. We are working on how to present a credible presidential candidate for the 2019 general elections. So, we sure not working in collaboration with either the APC or the PDP, but this Coalition will present a credible presidential candidate for Nigerians in the next election,” he said.

On whether the Coalition would later metamorphose into a merger, Abdulsalam said: “It will remain a coalition and we are not contemplating a merger, each party remains independent and autonomous but we are to come together to support a new government in 2019 at the centre.” According to him, the group is committed to pursuing economic, political and internal restructuring of Nigeria, empowerment of youths, women and persons with disability. He added that the body would strive to respect the rule of law, protection or democratic institutions in order to build a nation of great dreams “where equity and justice shall be the guiding principle.”

Leave a Reply