Former presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), retired General Muhammadu Buhari has stated that the merger of opposition parties is the only way to defeat People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
Addressing elected representatives and other
members of the party in Abuja on Monday,
General Buhari said the country has been
bedevilled by a government anchored on
corruption, oppression and insecurity and
there is an urgent need to halt the trend. He however advised members of the party to
work within the framework of the law and
aggressively mobilize the electorate to
register ahead of the next general elections. The former Head of State said, “a brief glance
at the political history of Nigeria confirms
that to hold power at the centre, you need a
broad coalition, alliance, merger or whatever
you may like to call it. “Today’s situation is no different. The country
is in the grip of a bad government whose only
purpose is to retain power by hook or by
crook – preferably by crook. “PDP does not need merger or alliance – they
are already merged and are in alliance with
the Police, INEC, and the Judiciary with the
NNPC and pension funds. “The country is tired of PDP; we are tired of
oppression; we are tired of corruption; we
are tired of insecurity and we are tired, full
stop!” “I believe merger is the only way to prevent
continuation of this bad governance. The
political class is at one that the only way to
stabilise the nation is for the opposition to
merge and face the ruling party,” he added. Buhari said while elected members of the CPC
could hold their heads high that they were
truly elected, the same could not be said of
their PDP counterparts. “You were actually elected. You did not use
police to intimidate voters; you did not use
INEC staff to inflate your votes. You won in
spite of all attempts by government to rig you
out. How many in the PDP can say that? Very,
very few. “You can, therefore, hold your heads high and
regard yourselves as genuine representatives
of your constituencies. You are true sons of
democracy; your positions are even more
important than those of party officials and
party leaders because you are the face of the CPC.”
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