SAN FRANCISCO, August 18, (THEWILL) – The Chairman of the Borno State chapter of the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP), Comrade Babagana Musa, has lashed out at the ruling All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) in the state , blaming it for all the misfortunes and woes of the State, including the Boko Haram crisis.
Musa made the accusation while delivering a goodwill message at the meeting of members of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Borno State at the weekend ahead of the expected merger of the two parties with the ANPP under the merger arrangement of the newly registered All Progressive Congress (APC).
He said just as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was the problem of the country, ANPP remains Borno problem.
According to the CNPP chief, “We all know that Borno State problem is the ANPP; since 1999 to date, the ANPP ruled Borno State and the dividends of democracy ANPP is giving Borno people is the present insecurity and instability.
“The incompetence of the present ANPP government in Borno State leads to so many hardship; so many pledges made by the present ANPP are not fulfilled; and due to lapses of the ANPP government, they cannot show a single project that they executed in two years.”
Musa therefore suggested that for the APC to successful oust PDP in 2015, it should not be satisfied with the present arrangement with three major parties of ANPP, ACN and CPC, but should embrace all other minor parties.
However, other chairmen of the merging parties have dismissed Musa’s statement and allegations, saying “all he said was his personal opinion and not the opinion of this meeting.”
Te chairman of the defunct Borno CPC, Ibrahim Elzubairu, who chaired the meeting that was tagged ‘Fusion of CPC/ACN in Borno’, noted that the new APC in Borno “is a new beginning, politically, free from the divisive, restricted politics of recent past, characterised by fear and hero worship.”
This came as the chairman of the defunct ACN, Kawu Tijjani, maintained that “the APC should not be seen as a mere change in name for any of the parties in the merger project . ”
According to Tijani, “We should not forget that the emergence of the APC is a voluntary collaboration of three major parties in Nigeria, which comprise of the ACN. ANPP, CPC and other splinters of DPP and APGA. ”
Both ex-chairmen of ACN and CPC had earlier commended Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) even as they hailed the Borno State governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, for what they described as his “timely support for the merger alongside his courageous colleagues in the progressive governors’ forum.”
Speaking with newsmen after the meeting, the CPC chairman said they can only vouch for their parties “sincerity in the merger, but we cannot speak for the ANPP on this.”
