INEC registers APC

By The Citizen

The All Progressives Congress (APC) on Wednesday got the approval of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to be registered as a political party.
Three political groupings, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), merged into APC.
Announcing the registration, INEC said that in considering the application, it found that the applicant-parties met all statutory requirements for the merger, and accordingly granted their request.
Consequently, the commission has approved the withdrawal of the individual certificates of the applicant-parties, and the issuance of a single one to the APC.
Reacting to the development, the APC congratulated Nigerians on the emergence of the new party. According to the party, with the birth of the APC, Nigerians now have an alternative to a ruling party that has taken the people for 'a bad ride in the past 14 years.'
In a statement issued by its interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in Lagos yesterday, APC said its emergence was a victory for Nigeria and democracy, and that it had now propelled the country to the league of top democratic nations with two major political parties.
His words: ''The journey has been long and tortuous. All sorts of obstacles were thrown into our path by anti-democratic forces, but we were painstaking, determined and unrelenting in our quest for a formidable platform that will allow our country, Nigeria, to achieve her full potential and join the league of respectable nations.
''With the approval of our merger by INEC and the emergence of APC, today marks the beginning of a new dawn for our country and her long-suffering people. We thank Nigerians both here and in the Diaspora for standing by us. We thank the media for their fairness, and we commend INEC for doing the right thing and for not succumbing to pressures from phantom political associations that sought to force it to circumvent the law.
''We promise not to disappoint Nigerians who have reposed much confidence in us. We say that contrary to the lies being peddled by the naysayers, we are not seeking political power for the sake of getting it, but in order to use it to empower our people and allow their long-nursed hopes and dreams to become a reality.
''And to those who have vowed to change their names if APC survives for a year, we hope they will live up to their words.'' APC said Nigerians could now look forward to a truly democratic party in the finest traditions of what the world considers as the best form of government.
The party promised to unveil, in the days ahead, its membership registration plans to give all Nigerians, 'especially those who have become disenchanted with the way things are going in the country, the much-awaited' opportunity to be part of the country's democratic process in the true sense of the word.
''We will also be unveiling our plans to turn today's hopelessness into a time of great opportunities, to reverse the downward slide in our socio-economic development, and to ensure that every Nigerian benefits from the commonwealth, instead of the present situation in which a few fat cats are milking the system dry at the expense of the citizenry,'' APC said.
But the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) believes its popularity and acceptance among Nigerians will not be threatened by APC.
In a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Tony Okeke, the PDP said that APC was a mere change of flag from the ACN which it described as a party noted for dictatorial tendencies.
'We hope to see a vibrant opposition that will constructively engage the PDP on issues of governance in a way that Nigerians will be the utmost beneficiaries instead of overheating the polity by promoting violence and hatred among the people', the PDP said.
The PDP 'will continue to maintain its pre-eminent position in the polity', it said, stressing that it remained the party with the widest acceptance and popularity among Nigerians across board.
The PDP noted that Nigerians were not deceived by the change of flag by the opposition. It said: 'Such does not remove their dictatorial tendencies and penchant for deceit and propaganda for which Nigerians have rejected them irrespective of party name.'
But the PDP hailed the APC's registration, adding: 'The leadership of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) congratulates the leadership of the All Progressives Congress on the successful registration of their new party. This is very healthy for our democracy. We hope that from now, the opposition will eschew all forms of bitterness and desperation and desist from politics of propaganda which characterised their former parties.
'We hope to see a vibrant opposition that will constructively engage the PDP on issues of governance in a way that Nigerians will be the utmost beneficiaries instead of overheating the polity by promoting violence and hatred among the people.'