Six political parties converged in Kaduna State on Thursday in preparation to dislodge the governing All Progressives Congress, APC, ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The summit, with the theme, ‘Solid political party structure critical to the sustainability of the democratic process,’ was convened by the African Democratic Congress.
In attendance were the New Nigeria People’s Party, the People’s Redemption Party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance, the Social Democratic Party, the KOWA Party, as well as the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), and the Coalition of United Political Parties.
Lawal Nalado, chairman of the summit, decried what he described as “unbearable hardship” faced by Nigerians across the country, saying that the gathering was all about discussing the nation’s barrage of problems and ways to move forward.
He refuted insinuations in some quarters that the summit was convened to form a merger or a coalition amongst parties.
He added that the opposition parties needed to mobilize voters at the grassroots by way of reaching out to the downtrodden with political enlightenment messages, capable of changing their mindset that politics should not be about money, religion or ethnicity but voting for the right candidates to uplift the social and economic status of the society.
The National Chairman of PRP, Falalu Bello, while speaking, stressed the need for effective mobilisation of the electorates by opposition parties, stressing that fielding credible candidates was not enough to win elections but mass mobilization.
Represented by Prof. Sule Muhammad, Bello listed inadequate resources, lack of internal democracy, decayed transparency, and interference by the ruling party among others as problems bedevilling opposition parties in the country.
Also, Ahmed Tujjani, the chairman of ADC and IPAC Kaduna State, opined that the summit was aimed to chart a course to address socio-economic and political parties’ problems with the motive of proffering realistic solutions.
According to him, “This is not a gathering for a merger or forming a coalition ahead of 2027 but rather a summit to discuss our common problems and suggest solutions of addressing them.
“We will call you again by tomorrow to read out our communique which will be a summary and possibly a mini-working document of solving our problems ahead of 2027.”
