By Chinelo Obogo
A chieftain of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Buba Galadima, has said that his party would consider a merger with other opposition parties if the right conditions are met.
In an exclusive interview with Saturday Sun, the former national secretary of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), said the leadership will consider what is best for the party in 2027 especially on the issue of a merger.
He said: “If other candidates come to the NNPP and say they are supporting the candidate of the NNPP, shall we say no? Because we are looking for votes. In 2027, we will consider what is best for the party.”
When asked if any other party could oust the APC in 2027, he said: “If they don’t perform, why not? And if they don’t perform and you choose them, can you call on us to come and… Let me give you one typical example. We went to Lagos, Alaba Rago. That is the vast Hausa market in Lagos, on the way to Badagry. And we asked them to vote for us and they promised to vote for us. Later on, APC came and asked them, under Ganduje, to vote for them. So, they made a choice, they voted for APC. And now, all their means of livelihood for the last 70 years was destroyed. Do you expect them to vote for APC? You know they did that to the Igbo market.
“You don’t know how they destroyed Alaba International Market? Alaba Electronics or what do you call it? You don’t know that they destroyed it? Do you expect those people to vote for them? So, if across the country, even people who cannot even find time to go to farm, you think they will still vote? If they vote, it is democracy. If they vote, is it not their problem?”
Earlier, Galadima said it would be impossible for the three northern zones to produce a single presidential candidate in the 2027 election.
When asked if the northerners would pick the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, former or his NNPP counterpart, Rabiu Kwankwaso, Galadima said, “We are not in the church; we are not in the mosque. Why should we speak with one voice?
“That is democracy. If you bring three people together, everybody has got a different way of thinking on how to solve a certain problem.”