By Kamil Opeyemi
A new coalition of political parties emerged on Thursday with the Peoples Democratic Party, New Nigerian People’s Party and others coming together.
Others in the coalition which seeks to form a formidable opposition to the ruling All Progressive Congress, are African Democratic Congress, Social Democratic Party, Peoples Allied Movement, Young Progressives Party, and Zenith Labour Party.
The PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, while hosting a delegation of the Inter-party Advisory Council in November, expressed fears of the country falling into a one-state party, urging the opposition to see the need for unity.
Explaining why the coalition was formed, the National Chairman of the SDP, Shehu Gabam said, “We looked into the issue of the judiciary. The judiciary is the last hope of the common man if it still stands.
We are worried about the level of instability the country is going through. If you look at recent developments in Zamfara, Nasarawa, Kano, and Plateau states, it is very clear that the judiciary must exercise extreme caution with some of its decisions.
The judiciary should strengthen their conviction towards delivering judgments that can stand the test of time. They should not allow we politicians to infiltrate their rank, sanity, and capacity to deliver judgments that are internationally sound and can be recognised.”.
The SDP Chairman, however, said that the coalition is not for a merger or against the Inter-Party Advisory Council.
Also speaking at the meeting, the acting National Secretary of the PDP, Setonji Koshoedo, who represented the acting party’s national chairman, Umar Damagum, stated that the coalition will offer a strong opposition.
Also, the national chairman of the ADC, Chief Ralph Nwosu, said the idea behind the coalition “is to strengthen our democracy. We have seen that people in government are trying to stiffen viable opposition.