Former House of Representatives Minority Leader, Farouk Aliyu, says the Peoples Democratic Party is “dying” and should consider merging with the African Democratic Congress if it hopes to remain a serious opposition force.
Aliyu, a prominent chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), spoke on Wednesday, December 24, during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily.
“I call on my brothers and sisters in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and African Democratic Congress (ADC) to put their acts together and, in my opinion, the Peoples Democratic Party should merge with the African Democratic Congress,” he said.
According to him, a merger may be the only realistic way to revive the PDP.
“Those in the African Democratic Congress and Peoples Democratic Party are respected Nigerians; we respect them,” he said.
“The way things are going, either amongst themselves they don’t come together to concede, some concession is needed, if they truly want democracy in this country to thrive.”
Aliyu argued that key opposition figures must be ready to sacrifice and compromise if they genuinely want the PDP to recover.
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“Honestly, it’s sad in this country that the Peoples Democratic Party looks to be dying, and I hope the African Democratic Congress gets its act together too, and we need vibrant opposition because we need to oppose the government so that the people will get the best of the system,” he said.
He stressed that it is not the APC’s responsibility to organise or rescue the opposition, pointing instead to how his own party was formed from multiple legacy parties.
“Remember the All Progressive Congress is a conglomeration of All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Congress For Progressive Change(CPC), Action Congress of Nigeria(ACN), and so on,” Aliyu said on the breakfast show.
“However, they came together and formed the All Progressive Congress, so if the Peoples Democratic Party is dying, why can they go on my advice and join the African Democratic Congress?
“Those in the African Democratic Congress and Peoples Democratic Party are respected Nigerians; we respect them.
“These are people who have contributed in one way or the other for the growth of this country,” Aliyu said.
His remarks come amid an ongoing wave of defections by governors, federal lawmakers and other political heavyweights to the APC, and as the PDP battles a bruising leadership crisis, with rival factions claiming control of the party that ruled Nigeria from 1999 to 2015.