3 PDP govs, ex-presidents fund APC

ABOUT three governors of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and former presidents of the country have agreed to fund the newly-formed All Progressives Congress (APC), just as the new party may likely face registration hurdles with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over its acronym, APC.
Sunday Tribune investigation revealed that though the governors and two former presidents had promised to fund the new party, they would still remain within the ruling party.
It was said this was part of the resolve of some PDP leaders, who were sympathetic to the cause of the newly-formed party, to redesign their support strategy instead of the reports linking them to the rumoured mass defection from the ruling party.
It was specifically reported that a Southern governor had pledged support for the new party while opting to remain within the PDP for safety reasons.
Another North-Central governor was said to have made a similar pledge under an anonymous cover, especially as his interest in real estate sector in Abuja was reported to be under threat.
A former Head of State and a former vice-president were also reported to have met leaders of the new party but with a resolution to financially support rather than join the new party. Two meetings were said to have been held with these two top leaders.
An APC source told Sunday Tribune that most sympathisers of the new party within the PDP were not willing to defect from the ruling party, adding that “reports of imminent defection to our party are not true.
“Most of them are afraid. They promise to support us but they are not ready to leave the PDP. They want to give us money but we are also afraid of them. We don’t want them to hijack the new party, “ the source said.
But the APC, it was revealed, was likely to face registration challenges as its acronym, APC, had been taken by another political party.
Inside sources within the APC told Sunday Tribune that reports from INEC indicated that another party, African Progressive Congress (APC) is already a registered political party which still subsists within the commission‘s registry.
Since another party is already bearing APC, the report indicated that INEC might refuse to register the newly-formed APC unless it changed its name to avoid conflict with the existing registered political party.
As of the time of filing this report, it was not clear who the leaders of the African Progressive Congress were and when the party was registered by the electoral body. The party is, however, not among those deregistered recently by INEC.
Further checks showed that the said African Progressive Congress was in existence all along though some APC insiders were already crying foul, accusing the ruling PDP of being the brain behind the plot.
A very furious APC source in Abuja told Sunday Tribune that “African Progressive Congress was newly-registered with the goal of denying the newly formed APC registration,” accusing the INEC of working in league with the PDP.
“You know General Buhari was right when he said INEC has merged with the PDP. We are seeing the sign now. There is a grand plot to deny us registration and we will resist all attempts in that direction,” the source said.
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria and a former Justice Minister, Prince Adetokunbo Kayode, however, fired back at the insinuations of PDP plotting to stop the new party, declaring that “APC and ADC are registered political parties long before now.
“Why must they shift their problem on PDP? They should have done their home work properly by checking INEC before announcing their name. APC and ADC have always been there as registered political parties. If they did not check with INEC, is that the fault of PDP? Kayode who is also a chieftain of the PDP asked.
The former minister who described APC as “a still-birth baby” said “we are not losing sleep over them and they should face their problem instead of blaming us for their woes.
Further investigations, however, showed that APC leaders are yet to officially approach INEC with their request for registration even though it was learnt that the doubt being raised about registration hurdles emanated from the report of the registration and liaison sub-committee of the party.
The sub-committee which submitted its report last Wednesday was reported to have made preliminary contact with INEC during which the existence of African Progressive Party was discovered. It is not clear yet what the APC leaders will do if INEC finally confirms the need for them to change the name of the new party.