The African Action Congress (AAC) and a faction of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) have announced an alliance ahead of the 2023 general election.
The parties also presented Omoyele Sowore of the AAC as their joint presidential candidate.
The alliance was announced on Monday at a press conference in Abuja.
Mr Sowore represented the AAC, while the PRP faction was led by Abdulmajeed Dauda, with other members of the two parties.
Falalu Bello is listed on the website of INEC as the national chairman of the PRP while Kola Abiola, son of Moshood Abiola, is recognised as the party’s presidential candidate.
Speaking on the alliance, Mr Sowore said the alliance is between the authentic AAC and PRP, and it is aimed at rescuing Nigeria from the grip of the two major parties – the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
“The alliance is between the authentic AAC and PRP. If you want to know if Kola Abiola is still in the race, ask him. He is the one that is claiming to be the candidate for the PRP,” he said.
He added that while “we are not against Kola Abiola version of the PRP, we are in alliance with Aminu Kano PRP.
“The other political parties are not different. What we know is that APC was formed by those who defected from the PDP,” he said.
On his part, Mr Dauda described the Falalu–led PRP as “reactionary forces” attempting to hijack the party and derail it from its leftist ideology.
He stated that they are still in court to “recover the party” from the people with neo-liberal ideology.
Mr Bello could not be reached for comments on the development.
But his media assistant, Muhammed Ishaq, told PREMIUM TIMES via phone on Monday that PRP is not involved in the alliance.
He said Mr Abiola remains the presidential candidate of the PRP for the 2023 election.
The two groups did not provide more information on the alliance.
The AAC alliance with the PRP faction is the first of such in the build-up to the 2023 polls.
Promises
Mr Sowore noted that the party has plans to abolish the Ministry of Women Affairs and replace it with the Ministry of Gender and Equality.
He also promised that the AAC will be expanded to accommodate more women in the party.
“Trust me, our particular major interest is to ensure that women equal men in this country, It is for that reason that we as political party, are going to jettison what we know as Women Affairs Ministry and make it the Ministry of Gender and Equality,” he said.
He also explained the reason he did not pick a woman as running mate, saying that no woman showed interest in picking the ticket of the party.
Mr Sowore, who contested in the 2019 elections, stated that he will be willing to support women for positions.
“Our party was restored to us on the 7th of June. We had only six days left to produce a presidential candidate and we went straight into primaries. No woman that we know of showed up, even though our form was free.
“We understand why, most of them were not aware that we got our party back from the reactionary elements. Our party could not have given our presidential ticket to someone who is not a member of our party. We promise to give more women more roles in our party to partake in the affairs of our party.
“Don’t forget, our next presidential candidate may be a woman. It is our desire that workers across Nigeria come back to their political party. This is the party for workers, women and students and all the oppressed segment of our society,” he said.
