Chief Spokesperson of the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council (LP-PCC) Yunusa Tanko says the rumoured merger between the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the New Nigeria People Party (NNPP), and the LP is unattainable.
The LP stalwart made this known on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday hours after the news made rounds with regard to what seemed like a merger among the PDP, NNPP, and LP.
According to him, a merger connotes that the parties would be validated by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as one.
“When you talk about merger, it means that political party from different parts of the country submit their document to INEC and then they will be pronounced as a new political party and that isn’t obtainable at the moment.
“So, the merger is out of the question technically. But, when you talk about the discussion of the possible working alliance with the political party – very true, that is very possible,” he said.
The spokesperson also revealed that talks about a possible merger were ongoing before the election.
“Even before elections, there were discussions. I will not say ABC is right on the table at the moment because we need to have this particular fact before we can go public about it,” the LP chieftain said. “At the moment we are having a discussion with ourselves”.
He added that discussions with political parties of like minds who believe in the ideology and the principles of the party is a welcome development.
“And so most of the political parties who are progressively minded would not allow that particular situation to happen in Nigeria,” the spokesman maintained.
“Therefore, there is a need for a lot of people not even the political party alone but those in the civil society, those who believe in Nigeria’s emancipation of people from the shackles of poverty would definitely come together and see how we can restore power to the interest of the Nigeria people, that is very possible.
He reiterated that there is no “foreclosure on the matter” but “all I know is that we’ve had discussions”.
LP’s presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi has also hinted that reports about a merger are untrue.
Speaking at a mega rally in Edo State ahead of the local government elections in the state, Obi told hundreds of party supporters that some of the things they are hearing everywhere were rumours.
The report comes less than six months after the February 25 presidential election in which Obi emerged third behind the eventual winner, President Bola Tinubu of the APC and second-placed Atiku Abubakar of the PDP.
The results, according to the final declaration by INEC, put Kwankwaso of the NNPP in fourth place.
Both Atiku and Obi are challenging the results declared by INEC in court, with the tribunal reserving judgement in the suits after the parties concerned concluded their arguments and submitted their final written addresses.
