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Lawyer, politician and civil society activist, Barrister Obono Obla has emerged as the Secretary of the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC Alliance and Merger Committee.
The committee was inaugurated yesterday in Abuja by the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Party, General Muhammadu Buhari.
At the inauguration, General Buhari congratulated the members of the committee on their appointment and urged them to negotiate the best deal for Nigeria.
He said: “You are all selected and appointed to serve on this important committee because of the trust and confidence the leadership of this party has in your ability, competence and integrity to work with sincerely in the best interest of the CPC and the people of Nigeria who have always voted-and will again vote-for change.
“The issue before you now and as you go into negotiations is fundamentally one that you will negotiate the best deal for Nigeria. It is essentially a matter of give-and-take. There is nothing sacrosanct about any of the issues you will be called to thrash out; of course, there is a bottom line, the outlines of which you have been given in the committee’s terms of reference.
“Please study these and let these be your guide as you sit to negotiate. Your task is national. Petty personal interests should not stand in the way of a great opportunity to build and run a better Nigeria, which will happen once CPC, ANPP and ACN are able to merge”.
The Committee is headed by a former Deputy Governor of Bauch State, Alhaji Garba Gadi.
Other members include Alhaji Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, Governor of Nassarawa State, Professor Tam David-West, former Minister of Petroleum, Alhaji Sabo Nanono, Senator Hadi Sirika, Engr. Ife Oyedele, Mr. Osita Okechukwu, National Publicity Secretary, Conference of Nigerian Political Parties CNPP, Rtd. Air Cdre Bernard Banfa, former Military Governor and Minister of Aviation, Engr. B. D. Lawal, Dr Haruna Yerima, Barrister Shittu Adebayo, former Attorney-General of Oyo State, Hon. Chukwuemeka Nwaijuba, Owelle Oscar Udoji and Mrs. Lucy Ajayi.
The terms of reference of the Committee include identifying political parties, political associations and civil society organisations that are interested in bringing about true democratic change in Nigeria and to design a comprehensive communication and engagement strategy with a view to bringing such associations and organisations together to form a common platform for establishing a genuinely democratic government in Nigeria.
The terms also allow the committee to explore the possibility of establishing a merger, striking alliances or putting together a coalition, as the case may be with a view to creating a strong political party and platform capable of winning a landslide victory in Nigeria.
The committee is expected to be guided in all its negotiations with other parties, by the presence in them of ideological complementarities, willingness to dissolve and fuse structures into one, acceptance of equitable distribution of portfolios that will take cognisance of the partner voting strength, the imperative of retaining as much of the party identity and symbols as will be easily recognisable to their teeming supporters, to commit the government to be established by this merger to the eradication of corruption, poverty, ensuring social justice, development of the potentials in youths, generation of gainful employment, protection of the electoral process and full commitment to the Millennium Development Goals Agenda amongst others.
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