By Our Reporters ABUJA—Mixed reactions, yesterday, greeted the registration of All Progressives Congress, APC, a merger of opposition parties, as a political party by Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. While some hailed the emergence of the new party, others expressed misgivings. The Presidency, yesterday, described the registration of APC by INEC as the most eloquent testimony of openness and transparency of President Goodluck Jonathan. Welcoming APC on board as a political party, the Presidency noted that it was good for democracy, boasting that before now, the merger parties were defeated individually, but with the registration, they will be defeated collectively. FLAG LAUNCH: From left— Prince Abiodun Ogunleye, former Deputy Governor of Lagos State; Chief Henry Ajomale, former Chairman, Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, Lagos; Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, Lagos State Deputy Governor; Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State; Chief Kemi Nelson, former Women Affairs Commissioner, and others at the formal inauguration of All Progressives Congress, APC, flag in Lagos, yesterday. FLAG LAUNCH: From left— Prince Abiodun Ogunleye, former Deputy Governor of Lagos State; Chief Henry Ajomale, former Chairman, Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, Lagos; Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, Lagos State Deputy Governor; Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State; Chief Kemi Nelson, former Women Affairs Commissioner, and others at the formal inauguration of All Progressives Congress, APC, flag in Lagos, yesterday. It added that the existence of APC as a political party would lessen the burden of PDP, which will now concentrate its effort in tackling one party rather than several parties at the same time. The Presidency also said that if President Jonathan decides to contest the 2015 presidential election, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, will have no choice than to give him the ticket, adding that nobody can beat the President whenever he makes up his mind to join the race. Speaking with journalists, yesterday, at Wadata Plaza, PDP, National Secretariat, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, said: “The registration of APC is perhaps the most powerful, the most eloquent testimony of the openness, transparency, honesty and political liberalism of President Goodluck Jonathan. “This would not have happened under many Africa Presidents, especially when it is obvious to those who care to study the situation properly that there were obvious hurdles and obstacles to that registration, which could have been exploited, and could have been amplified and could have been used by people of lesser integrity to frustrate the APC. “This is a testament and this is a testimony that we have no fear whatsoever about APC registration. We are not in any way anxious. ‘We fight one instead of four’ “These are people that were beaten individually before and collectively we will defeat them randomly. But we are glad that at least now instead of fighting three or four parties, we can concentrate on one and get it done. “I can assure you that there is nobody in the villa that is worried. For us it is a good thing, it is a great development. “I don’t know whether the opposition is credible enough. I cannot attest to that. But at least you know, we have political parties that have been inept previously, that have been extremely weakened and of no serious political importance before now and have now come together under one umbrella with an attempt to challenge the status quo . We will see how far they can go. On Jonathan in 2015, Rivers crisis “If the President decides to run, why should the party pick somebody else? The only advantage it will have in contesting is that it has an incumbent President who will not be telling Nigerians that ‘vote for me I will do this.’ “He will be telling Nigerians ‘vote for me I have done this’. “All these people who are saying there is no automatic ticket, what they are saying is politically unwise and is impracticable and they cannot come to pass. “There is no problem in Rivers State. I have said it and I am saying it again, Governor Rotimi Amaechi has a problem with some members of House of Assembly. “Within the House of Assembly in Rivers State there are divisions and it is not strange. It is not unusual. “Over 18 Speakers have been removed in this our young democracy and nothing happened. Like I told you, this is 2015 live. “Everything you hear about Rivers State, anything you hear about governors moving all over the place has nothing to do with Rivers State.” IBB reacts Former Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida, described the registration of APC as a new development, saying it will give room for “vibrancy” into the politics of the country, especially 2015 general elections. He told newsmen in Minna, yesterday: “With the emergence of the new party, we will now see a vibrant political activity and what is left for the electorate and the press is to ensure that the votes count and also allow the people to make their choice. “I have been and will continue to be a strong believer of two-party system and like PDP itself said on the emergence of APC, it is a welcome development. “But that is not to say that other registered political parties are dead. It is, however, clear that we now have two strong parties in the country.” Rival group’s position African Peoples Congress, one of the political associations contesting the APC acronym with the registered All Progressives Congress, yesterday, said the decision by INEC to register All Progressives Congress does not take away its legal right over the APC acronym. The group also lampooned the commission, saying that the registration of APC, despite the pending court matter, was a deliberate plan by the commission to plunge the country into anarchy. National Chairman of African Peoples Congress, Chief Onyinye Ikeagwuonu, at a briefing at the association’s headquarters in Abuja, said despite what he described as a set back, his group would continue with the preparations to contest the Anambra governorship election slated for November this year. Ikeagwuonu said: “The decision of INEC to recognise APC does not take away our legal right over the APC acronym as we are the first to apply with the name and we are in court seeking to reverse the injustice done to us. “Note here that at the time INEC registered the merger APC, the acronym APC was not available and up till now, it is still not available as we, the original owners, are still pursuing the last phase of our registration with the ongoing judicial review which the court will soon rule on. “With the purported registration of All Progressives Congress as a political party, it is no longer news that Attahiru Jega and his mercantile officials in INEC have shamelessly but effectively aligned with the All Progressives Congress to plunge Nigeria’s democratic process into chaos. “As long as our case is in court, the acronym APC is not yet available as the process of registration, which ends with a judicial review, is still ongoing. “Nigerians must note that INEC fully acknowledged that we were the first to apply with the name APC and are fully in court with us over our move to upturn the decision to deny us registration. “One then wonders on what ground the Jega-led INEC decided to register a group whose acronym is same as ours. Legal angle… “What will happen to INEC and the merger parties when the court gives judgment in our favour and reinstates our right over the APC acronym. “We have surmounted the many hurdles and conspiracies being thrown at us in the past and will continue to surmount. “The court has remained firm on the rule of law and has continued to reject all frivolous applications deliberately filed to derail our case “INEC is sufficiently aware of the fact that the African People’s Congress, APC, is legitimately pursuing a judicial review of the commission’s decision to reject its application for registration in the court of law, which is an integral part of the party registration process unambiguously provided for in the country’s Electoral Act. “The actions of the commission that led to this ridiculous registration of the All Progressives Congress had always been put in public space by the African People’s Congress and another look at them conveys an outrageous aversion to the tenets of the rule of law by the wheeler-dealer leadership of the commission. “We want Anambrarians to note that we are not going to let them down. We will announce our guber candidate at our state congress/rally in Awka in the weeks ahead and will immediately forward the name to INEC via DHL.” - See more at: vanguardngr/2013/08/reactions-trail-apcs-registration/#sthash.rdQTXLip.dpuf
Posted on: Fri, 02 Aug 2013 10:27:14 +0000
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