The presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People Party (NNPP), Rabiu Kwankwaso, has said that his party is discussing a possible merger with the Labour Party and it’s presidential candidate Mr. Peter Obi.
The NNPP made said this on Saturday, while speaking with BBC Hausa Service.
“It is true we are in talks with Peter Obi and a committee is working to look into how to form a merger between us.
“Friends and family are being up and doing talking about the merger arrangement,” Mr Kwankwaso added.
Mr Kwankwaso’s NNPP has a large following in the north of the country, particularly the north-west while Mr Obi recently defected from the PDP and joined the Labour Party. He has endeared himself to large youth following in the south of the country.
“The merger is important because as you can see both the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) did not pick their running mates from the South-east,” Mr Kwankwaso said.
However, a merger is legally impossible between both parties before next year’s general elections. But an alliance is very possible for both parties.
We know that the two parties have a large number of followers in different areas, unlike the opposition parties APC and PDP who both have a large and strong followership base in nearly every area of the country.
The coalition will help the both parties win votes in their areas of strength.They could also agree to present joint candidates for presidential and governorship elections with one party producing the candidate and the other the running mate. The two-person team could then choose to run on the platform of one of the two parties.
Some supporters of Messrs Kwankwaso and Obi had earlier called for this alliance between both parties and are eagerly awaiting a positive feedback from the deliberation process.
Some supporters of Peter Obi, are expecting Mr. Rabiu Kwankwaso to emerge as the running mate for Mr. Peter Obi, in the forthcoming elections.
