Noah Ebije, Kaduna.
One of the opposition political parties in the country, African Democratic Congress (ADC), might spring surprises by taking over power both at the national and state levels in the 2019 general elections.
This was the optimism expressed by the Kaduna State chairman of ADC, Alhaji Ibrahim Suleiman, in an interview with Daily Sun.
Suleiman, who is also the state’s chairman of Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), said there were several meetings going across the country to reposition the party for economic and socio-political progress of the nation.
He said there was also the likelihood of wooing other opposition political parties to join forces with ADC to win the forthcoming general election.
He, however, debunked the belief among Nigerians that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the major opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), are the only visible and vibrant parties in the country.
The Kaduna State IPAC chairman said APC and PDP appear to be popular more than the other political parties because of their strong financial base.
He added that in terms of ideological prowess, no other party could beat the ADC, stressing that over 30 political parties might be wooed by ADC to achieve common goals in 2019.
In his words, “We have 38 registered political parties in Kaduna State for now, and my party, ADC is trying to woo them in order to form a coalition towards 2019 general election.
“There is every need for all opposition political parties to form a coalition and bring out a consensus candidate for national and state electoral competition by next year.
“I don’t think it is true that APC and PDP are the only vibrant political parties in Kaduna and the country, in general. But it is true that they have more financial edge over other parties.
“And that is not to say other parties are not doing well. Every political party is doing well in the state, but this time around, ADC will pull the surprise by showcasing victory at the polls in 2019,” the state’s ADC chairman stated.
On the role the state’s IPAC played to mend fences in Kaduna State APC internal wrangling, Suleiman said though the Council tried its best to no avail, hope was never lost to resolve the crisis.
He continued, “We wrote a letter to Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the state about the APC crisis in order to intervene as IPAC, but we did not get the required response from the Commission.
“We, therefore, decided to stay off the crisis for now till we try again to bring every aggrieved person in the crisis to a round table in order to resolve the issue once and for all,” Sultiman assured.