There is a high optimism that the current effort between the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and the Labour Party (LP) to merge and pursue the 2023 presidential election as an entity would work, given the indication coming from the former on Saturday.
On the heels of the admission of Rabiu Kwankwaso, former Governor of Kano State, who is leading the NNPP that he is currently in talks with Peter Obi, former Governor of Anambra State, for that purpose, the NNPP, said it was already looking forward to a credible outcome.
Kwankwaso is contesting next year’s election on the platform of the NNPP, which he formed after exiting the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) last year, while Obi, who took the same route after making no headway in the same party, where he tried to pick its ticket for the election, has pitched his tent with the LP for the same purpose.
The NNPP, while disclosing in a tweet on Saturday, that a committee had been set up to lead the discussion, said that if the effort succeeded, it would sound the death-knell on the dominance of the PDP and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), to allow Nigerians have a new lease of life.
“We wish to inform Nigerians that, our discussions with Peter Obi and the Labour Party are still ongoing. Special committee was set to discuss arrangements. We hope for good results that will give Nigeria a chance to be alive, once again,” the tweet reads.
Kwankwaso, speaking earlier on BBC Hausa Service, while confirming the talks, explained that the collaboration was vital because the PDP and APC had not fielded an Igbo vice-presidential candidate.
He said: “We are really talking to Peter Obi, or at least saying that the committee is working to look into the matter (and cooperate with him), and friends and family are coming to talk to us about it.”
Doyin Okupe, who is standing in as the vice-presidential candidate of LP, who had on Friday, given indication of the merger talks with other political parties towards a coalition for the 2023 elections, said: “The Labour Party is working towards creating the largest political coalition in the country to defeat the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).”