A new twist has been added to the unfolding drama
over the APC acronym, being claimed by three
political associations.
A new group claiming the acronym has emerged.
Only this time, the group which also claims to be All
Progressives Congress has written to the
Independent National Electoral Commission seeking
to add "Nigeria" to its acronym, APC.
Our correspondent gathered in Abuja, on Friday that
the group had no affiliation to the All Progressives
Congress being promoted by the coalition of
opposition political parties.
SUNDAY PUNCH had on March 24, 2013 reported that
the APC being promoted by opposition political
parties was considering adding "N" (Nigeria) to its
acronym since the African People's Congress had
taken INEC to court over its refusal to register it.
But the new group will by its decision to add N to its
name prevent the mega party from using it.
In an advertorial published in a national daily on
Friday, the new group wrote: "The below document
(sic) are evidence (sic) of our ongoing registration
process to register the All Progressive Congress as a
political party which started over a month ago.
"INEC in replying out ( sic) first letter advised us to
change our acronym so that it will not conflict with
the acronym of the African People's Congress (APC)
which at that time was the first to submit an
application in compliance with the INEC letter to us
and to avoid an acronym war with the African
People's Congress (APC), which has announced their
decision to challenge INEC decision to deny them
registration at the court in line with Section 76 of the
Electoral Act, we have adjusted our earlier
application to now read All Progressive Congress of
Nigeria (ACPN)."
Reacting to the development, the National Publicity
Secretary of the Action Congress of Nigeria, Lai
Mohammed, said the development was the
handiwork of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party.
He explained that Nigerians were smart enough to
read between the lines, adding that it was left for
INEC to prove to the world the kind of umpire it was.
Mohammed said, "It is all the handiwork of the
Presidency and the PDP. But you see, this will be a
test case for INEC because INEC refused to register
UPGA on the grounds that it was too close to APGA
now that INEC has notice of our intention to merge
under the banner of APC, we will want to see if they
will still register APCN, we are waiting."
Also speaking on the issue, National Publicity
Secretary of the Congress for Progressive Change,
Rotimi Fashakin, said, "This is all part of the script
we are talking about. What they are trying to do is to
close whatever option which we may have should
we decide to choose another name, this is clear
political rascality. They are petrified at the progress
of the merger. Jonathan has learnt from the grand
patriarch of the PDP, General Olusegun Obasanjo. It
is executive rascality. "
However, the Peoples Democratic Party dismissed
the allegations levelled against it by the opposition.
The party's National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa
Metuh , said, " My response is that over the years we
have had people leaving PDP, we have never
accused ACN, we have had people disagreeing with
PDP, and we have had internal challenges and
sometimes even minor crisis, we have never blamed
opposition parties.
"We do hope that when they start having their
challenges and crisis they will not be blaming PDP.
"We know there is still a storm coming when they
are going to do their primaries. They will have
storms, when they are having their congresses they
will have storms, when it comes let them not blame
PDP because it is normal with administering a large
party. If they do not have the capacity or the
competence to be at the helm of a party then they
should stop making noise. It means Nigerians cannot
trust them to superintend the economy of this
country."
It will be recalled that hours after the African
People's Congress unveiled its logo and national
secretariat in Abuja, the All Progressives Congress
being promoted by opposition political parties
insisted that the acronym, APC, remained its
intellectual property and would not relinquish it.
This is just as news emerged that another political
association with a similar acronym, All Patriotic
Citizens, had also applied to the Independent
National Electoral Commission for registration as a
political party.
The African Peoples Congress and the All
Progressives Congress had been laying claim to the
acronym, APC, before the emergence of All Patriotic
Citizens.

Source: mobile.punchng.com/output.php?link=http://www.punchng.com/news/new-political-group-apcn-emerges/

Why not look for another three letter word instead of APCN which majority of voters will find dificult to remember or confusing? And since they are aware UPGA was rejected because of its closeness to the acronym APGA why look for trouble by presenting something similar or they are just seeking for publicity and not yet ready to form a political party? And their focus on PDP is alarming why not do your own thing your way and wait for result if you are sure of yourself? When you begin to fail from registration I wonder what will happen during election. Maybe their next registration would be PDPN, since they are only out for publicity.