By; IBRAHIM ADAMU, Kaduna
A summit convened in Kaduna today by African Democratic Congress (ADC), with eight political parties in attendance in preparation to have formidable opposition parties ahead 2027 general election harped on stronger party structures as panacea to taking back power from the ruling APC.
The gathering of the politicians named; ADC Democracy Summit Kaduna 2024 was attended by a host of opposition parties including; the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), People’s Redemption Party (PRP), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Social Democratic Party (SDP), KOWA Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Coalition of United Political Parties(CUPP) among others.
Chairman of the summit, Lawal Nalado while lamenting what he described as unbearable hardship faced by Nigerians across the country hinted that the gathering was called to discuss the nation’s barrage of problems and to chart the way forward for citizens to make informed decisions ahead the next general elections.
He debunked insinuations that the summit was convened to form a merger or a coalition amongst parties.
Nalado gave a scathing assessments of the present administration in Abuja, saying it could not solve Nigeria’s problems but rather ended up creating new ones.
He stated that 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 the right candidates to uplift social and economic status of the society.
Also in his remarks, National Chairman of PRP Falalu Bello advocated effective mobilization of the electorates by opposition parties, adding that fielding credible candidates was not enough to win elections, thus the need for mass mobilization.
Represented by Professor Sule Muhammad, Falalu Bello listed inadequate resources, lack of internal democracy, decayed transparency, interference by ruling party among others as problems bedevilling opposition parties in the country.
On his part IPAC National Chairman called on opposition parties to adhere to principles of accountability, transparency and diverse effective means of holding government accountable, saying it would go a long way in putting elected and appointed officials on their toes in ensuring delivering of dividends of democracy to citizens.
In his goodwill message, National Chairman of KOWA party and spokesman of CUPP challenged opposition parties on the need to be active and vocal in pointing shortcomings and lapses of the government in power so the ruling party would rise to its duties and responsibilities to the people.
Earlier in his address, chairman of ADC and also IPAC Kaduna State Ahmed Tujjani disclosed that the summit aimed to chart a course to addressing socioeconomic and above all political parties’ problems with the motive of proffering realistic solutions.
“This is not a gathering for merger or forming a coalition ahead 2027 but rather a summit conveyed 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 out problems ahead 2027.
“It is not early to start off as we have done here because our people said a Friday that will be good could be predicted from Wednesday.
“We hosted a collection of strong opposition parties and youth group,in addition to put heads together for country.
“Nigerians must be informed and carried along by parties if we really want to keep citizens’ loyalty intact ahead the next general election,” he suggested.
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