Following talks of the emergence of a Mega party ahead 2019 general
election, the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC),
Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, has said his party will welcome the much
talked about mega party to help it seat up.
Declaring that APC is
in no way threatened by the emergence of a mega party, Oyegun said his
party will even like the birth of a party that can “make us sit up and
be on our toes in terms of the delivery of services to our people,”
especially with the gradual collapse of the Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP).
Oyegun who stated this in an interaction with newsmen in
Benin City on Tuesday, meanwhile absolved former Vice-President Atiku
Abubakar and the National Leader of the APC, Senator Bola Tinubu of
their supposed involvement in the formation of the new party.
He
disclosed that he had met with some of the leaders of the APC like the
leadership of the National Assembly, the former vice-president and “We
are also waiting for the arrival of Tinubu so we can also meet with him
and have meaningful discussions because he is a well-respected leader of
this party.”
The APC National Chairman said, “We do not feel
threatened at all, no mega party will survive the APC. I don’t know
where the name mega party suddenly came from in the lexicon of politics
in this country.
“When
two people gather to have a meeting it is a ‘mega’ meeting. We don’t
feel threatened, we will in fact encourage a mega party, because with
the gradual collapse of PDP, we want a party that can make us sit up and
be on our toes in terms of the delivery of services to our people.
“We
need a party that will challenge us, that will make democracy real,
offer the people a real choice. We are not threatened at all, we are
focused on our mission made difficult by the current economic situation,
which of course is compounded by the collapse of oil prices.
“Nonetheless,
we are reforming this country, reforming it ethically, morally and
economically by building a fresh economic base which will no longer
depend on an extractive industry which does not involve the people.”
