- Some lawmakers are reportedly ready to join Chief Olusegun Obasanjo's third force
- A northern lawmaker said the former president has reached out to lawmakers
- He said both and APC and PDP will likely lose members to the coalition soon
Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s call for the establishment of a Coalition for Nigeria has reportedly started gaining prominence as members of the National Assembly are ready to defect when the time comes.
The former president had written a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari asking him to participate in the 2019 elections while also calling for the formation of a coalition outside of the ruling All progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party.
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The Punch reports that a lawmaker on the platform of the APC from the north claimed about 80 per cent of lawmakers were ready to join the former president.
The lawmaker who spoke on the condition of anonymity said former and serving governors were also ready to join the coalition.
“It is true that he has reached out to us and I can tell you that 80 per cent of National Assembly members are with him. It is very huge.
“Registration of a political party cannot take more than two weeks. I can tell you that out of the parties that were registered, there is one at hand – somewhere – which will likely be the focus,”
“I can confirm to you that there is most likely to be defections from the APC in the next one month.
“I can tell you that there are people in the APC who are not comfortable with the party; and there are those in the PDP who are not comfortable with the party also. So, most likely, these would be the forces that would form the third force.”
The lawmaker said the coming national convention of the APC will determine the survival of the party.
“There is a possibility that the APC would become a minority party at the National Assembly before the elections. And that will put the President in a very difficult situation.
“This will happen because many APC members would not be given ticket to contest and they would likely join the third force or the PDP. The PDP is now wooing those in the APC."
Meanwhile, a billionaire businessman and founder of Aiteo group Benedict Peters declared that he did not fund any coalition headed by Obasanjo.
Punch reports that Peters made this known in a statement released on Friday night, January 26.
The stamen read: ''For the record, I wish to state, categorically and unequivocally, that I am not a financier of the said organisation or any socio-political partisan association or political party in Nigeria or anywhere else in the world.
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Source: Naija.ng