Following the emergence of CUPP, the Rivers State APC State Publicity Secretary, Warisenibo Chris Finebone said, “it is important to clearly state that Monday’s coalition between PDP and some political parties leading to the formation of Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) is structurally and methodologically different from the coalition between some parties that led to the formation of All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2013, at least, for now.”
The Rivers State APC Spokesman in statement made available to journalists 10th July, 2018 recalled that the Congress of Progressive Change (CPC), Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and a faction of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) came together to form APC two years to the 2015 presidential elections which the APC won. New PDP was to later join the APC in same 2013. However, the PDP coalition that signed an MOU last Monday has less than seven months to the 2019 general elections, hardly enough time to forge the coalition into a formidable election-winning political party.
It reads: “Very importantly, ACN, ANPP and the new PDP that metamorphosed into APC all brought state governors, their followers and resources to the table hence the success that accompanied their coalition. The present coalition being driven by PDP today has only the PDP with governors, the rest are being dragged in without a single governor or state support hence the conclusion that PDP entered into the alliance with itself and itself alone.
“It was after the formation of APC as a political party that it was able to hold congresses, convention and presidential primaries that produced the presidential candidate for the party. We are yet to see how the CUPP will first become a viable political party and cope with the arduous task of selecting a presidential candidate given that the likes of Atiku and others in the PDP were driven there by their inordinate desire to become president.
“We can go on and on to demonstrate why and how the 2013 coalition that brought forth APC and the present one being driven by the PDP are different and cannot have the same outcome.
“Therefore, the reaction of Rivers State Chapter of APC is that The CUPP should first become a strong political party, hold congresses and convention and successfully pick a presidential candidate then we can begin to see what the outcome of its efforts is likely to be. For now, it will be foolhardy and an unforgivable naivety for anyone to believe that the coalition the PDP is chaperoning with some parties that exist only in INEC register will achieve anything meaningful. By the way, the majority of the so-called political parties in the CUPP alliance were registered by individuals solely for political merchandising and pecuniary pursuits and not for serious political business whereas the APC legacy parties of ACN, CPC, ANPP and APGA were very serious political parties with structures and political office holders across the country.”
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