Ahead of 2019 general elections, about 30 political parties have agreed to fuse together to form a coalition against the ruling All Progressives Congress.

Former National Chairman of Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) and national chairman of the National Conscience Party (NCP), Dr Yunusa Tanko, dropped the hint on Thursday in Abuja.

Dr Tanko disclosed that the new platform which will operate under the aegis of Coalition for a New Nigeria (CNN) will address a news conference on its strategies next Tuesday.

Parties involved in the merger plan according to the NCP chairman include, Labour Party (LP), Alliance for Democracy (AD), Democratic Peoples Congress (DPC), Action Alliance (AA), Progressives Peoples Alliance (PPA), Young Democratic Party (YDP), Democratic Alternative (DA) and National Conscience Party (NCP).

Others are Peoples Party of Nigeria (PPN), Mega Progressive Peoples Party (MPPP), Better Nigeria Peoples Party (BNPP), African Democratic Congress (ADC), People for Democratic Change (PDC), United Democratic Party (UDP) and National Action Congress (NAC) among others.

Findings revealed that apart from Dr Tanko, who has been appointed as its spokesperson, other executive members of the CNN include, Alhaji Abdulkadir Salam of the Labour Party (LP) as Chairman and Barrister Godson Okoye of the United Democratic Party (UDP) as Secretary.

Dr Tanko told newsmen that the parties decided to come together, having taken cognisance of the fact that only a formidable coalition could dislodge the ruling All Progressives Congress, (APC) in 2019.

He said: “This has become necessary due to the dynamic situation of our politics which needs urgent intervention to save the county from anarchy and give direction for our democratic survival towards the 2019 general elections.

“The CNN wishes to reiterate its determination to give a new hope to the nation with the sole aim of building a better country that can care for its people.

“This is why the CNN made up of 30 registered political parties and expecting to rapidly grow have come together to salvage the situation before things get out of hand,”

“We are determined to take over power in 2019, and we are 30 political parties ‎working together. We are concerned about the state of the nation. We are going to bring all the 30 political parties together on the 30th to show you how ready and prepared we are. We are working together to support a candidate within the coalition.

“We are political parties in this country and we have decided to chart a new course and if other individuals make statements supporting our cause, it is a welcome development. Now that many individuals have started writing letters, it is very imperative for political parties to own up the space in which they are and that is why we don’t want any individual to hijack the process.

“This is the only coalition that is geared towards winning elections in 2019.”

Tanko, however, clarified that the parties were going into an alliance, not a merger.

“No, it’s not going to be a merger. Yes, some political parties are interested in a merger, but most of the parties are more interested in an alliance.”

“We will mobilise all Nigerians to see the difference. Mentioning only two political parties ‎in this country is not good enough. We want to give Nigerians a better choice that can deliver to the people come 2019.” (Nigerian Tribune)

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