By SAAWUA TERZUNGWE

The United Progressives Party (UPP) has collapsed its structures from ward to national level into the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) following its de-registration by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The decision was reached at a meeting of the UPP National Executive Committee (NEC), Board of Trustees (BoT), National Working Committee (NWC) and other stakeholders held on Thursday in Abuja,

The UPP National Chairman, Chief Chekwas Okorie in a communique sent to our correspondent said the meeting directed all UPP members to register as APC members, adding there was no need to challenge INEC’s decision in court.

“We reviewed a number of options available to us including the hand of fellowship extended to our party by some of the political Parties that survived the INEC onslaught.

“However, after considering the fact that on the 17th August 2018, our party’s NEC opted to support President Muhammadu Buhari in his bid for his second term in the 2019 presidential election unconditionally, during which time, our members across the country were directed to campaign for the APC presidential candidate and President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This directive was carried out without a single dissenting voice from any segment of the Party nationwide.

“In view of our present circumstances, our Party resolved unanimously that the most logical follow up to our earlier chosen political trajectory would be to collapse all our structures from the Ward to the National level into the All Progressives Congress.

“We have therefore directed our members at all levels to proceed to register as members of APC at their various Wards of origin or the Wards where they are resident. Before arriving at this final decision, we consulted widely, not only among ourselves but with the leaders and stakeholders of the APC where we have been assured of a warm welcome and equal opportunities available to all bona fide members of the ruling party,” Okorie said. (Daily Trust)

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