Lagos NCP denounces alliance with PDP, R-APC, others

You misunderstand the coalition, says Tanko

Lagos State chapter of the National Conscience Party (NCP) has dissociated itself from the recent alliance and signing of MOU with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and other 38 political parties.

Expressing his displeasure with NCP national chiarman, Yunusa Tanko, the Lagos State chairman, Fatai Ibuowo, said for “the avoidance of any doubt, the NCP Lagos State chapter totally dissociates itself from this so-called alliance and the signed MOU.”

Ibuowo said the Lagos chapter consider the development as nothing but an unprincipled and unholy alliance with no benefit to the Nigerian masses and the NCP,” stressing that the national chairman, who is also one of the presidential aspirants in the party acted on his own individual interest and without consultation with any of the organs of the party.

He added: “The action of the national chair is not in the interest and principles of the party and did not have the authority to act as such. The NCP has absolutely nothing in common with PDP or APC. We clearly see the PDP and APC as birds of the same feather. The Nigerian masses want a total booting out of the two parties of evil.”

He added that scores of the other political parties in the so-called alliance have no different programs from that of the PDP or APC, maintaining that NCP’s candidates would not step down for anybody and “an NCP government would not include PDP elements nor shall we hold office in a PDP government.” Ibuowo contended that NCP being a party of the struggle and the masses, “any attempt to mislead it into an unholy alliance with political parties with a long criminal record would definitely fail.”

But, in a chat with The Guardian, Tanko explained: “Probably lack of understanding of what the alliance is all about and you cannot rule out those thing in political party. We need to get in contact with them to understand those things. The alliance does not stop the NCP from contesting any election, the alliance did not say we are a merger; we are not merging with anybody.

“It is just an alliance to help each other where we are weak and it’s not only the NCP that is part of this political alliance, we have KOWA, Labour, Action Alliance (AA), Alliance for Democracy (AD), Africa Democratic Party (ADC), Action Democratic Party (ADP), Democratic Alternative (DA), Democratic Peoples Party (DPC), New Generation Party (NGP), People for Democratic Change (PDC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Providence People’s Congress (PPC), and the Reformed All Progressives Congress (R-APC), all of us attempting to work together so that we can win election.”

Tanko said he was personally tired of not winning election, adding: “For a long time, people have been asking why has the NCP not win any election, and we have been able to identify our weakness, it has to do with funding among other thing so, we will have a discussion with the Lagos State chapter and let them understand us and if they don’t understand us, we will find a way also to make them understand and look at everything and make appropriate decision.

“At a point in time, we did an alliance with the APC so, we are not happy with the leadership of the present government as today, and everybody agree with that, and our agreement was to change this government to a people driving government and so some of this must be contained in the work of the National Conscience Party because we are the one that started the arrangement for a new Nigeria.”