The Labour Party (LP) has distanced itself from the coalition of political parties which recently came together in an attempt to oust the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2019.
Dr Mike Omotosho, National Chairman of the party said this while addressing newsmen on Wednesday in Abuja.
According to him, the Labour Party is not part of any coalition with any group.
He said that the leadership of the party has not been consulted, neither has there been any formal meeting or agreement between the party and any other political party in Nigeria in that respect.
“The Labour Party is not only a political party but a political movement, guided by its ethics, values, principles and social ideology, where all actions are taken in consideration of due process.
“If there was any need for the party to join any coalition, the consent and the approval of the National Working Committee (NWC) and the National Executive Council (NEC) would have been sought before such decision is taken.
“It is an undisputable fact that the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and its allies, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the civil society, are the owners of the Party.
“Such a vital decision to join a coalition cannot be effected without the approvals of their respective governmental organs.
“As it stands now, the NWC, NEC, nor NLC are aware or privy to this crocket coalition engagement, ’’he said.
He, however, called on Nigerians to disregard all allusions to the inclusion of the Labour Party and those of the NLC & TUC, as members of any collation.
Omotosho added that the commitment of the Labour Party to the coalition is, therefore, the fiery imaginations and fictions of a few recalcitrant members.
According to him, this borne out of their hurriedness to mortgage the Party for their selfish political end.
“We hereby dissociate our great party, the Labour Party, from such a gathering, calculated to further throw the political atmosphere of Nigeria into more heinous confusion.
“The vision and mission of this coalition is not yet clear to Labour Party,” he said.
“We therefore at this moment cannot subject the party to an alliance whose objectives and goals is currently not understood,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Action Democratic Party (ADP) also disassociated itself from the coalition.
National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Sani Yabagi made the party’s position known at a news conference on Wednesday in Abuja.
“You will recall that on July 9, the PDP, in conjunction with about 34 other political parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to field a common presidential candidate for the 2019 general elections, after forming the CUPP.
“The parties are also to collaborate in several other areas to ensure that the All Progressives Congress (APC) -led Federal Government is defeated in the coming elections.
“Let me say here for the avoidance of doubt that we are not part of the coalition,” he said.
Yabagi added that his party, however, believed that the time had come for a generational shift in leadership, but not by putting old wine in new bottles.
This, according to the ADP national chairman, is what the PDP- led coalition represented.
He recalled that similar coalition was formed in 2015, noting that it is time for Nigerians to wake up and resist another deceit by desperate and corrupt politicians ahead of 2019 general elections.
He stressed that ADP was committed to building a new Nigeria that offers hope to all, and ensure transformation in health, education, infrastructure, security, and employment, among others.
According to Yabagi, what Nigerians need at the moment, is a new direction, championed by true patriots, a process he said his party was determined to drive.
“We shall be calling on like-minded patriotic, God fearing and credible Nigerians, to join the ADP-led coalition to rebuild Nigeria and make our nation the pride of Africa,” he said.
He said that ADP was a child of necessity that would deepen democracy and good governance to establish the credible political platform that would rescue the country.
He stressed that the party was not prepared to jettison its values and Constitutional provisions such as the use of direct primaries as against the often used corrupt delegate system by the other parties in the CUPP.
“The ADP is also not in a hurry to hobnob with those who mismanaged Nigeria for sixteen years, and now re-grouping in an un-strategic haste to resume unprecedented loot of the nation’s treasury.
“It is important to know that those who pushed Nigeria to the precipice are the drivers of the coalition and have nothing new to offer.
“To collaborate with them is to sleep with strange bedfellows,”the ADP national chairman said.
He maintained that the ADP was, however, not averse to any political coalition that could bring a positive overhaul of the Nigerian system, but stressed that such coalition must be done with true patriots.
He added that such patriots must not be seen to be a part of the Nigerian problem.
Yabagi added that in the desire to acquire power, the ADP would not compromise its basic principles and ideology. (NAN)