By Abbas Jimoh
The alliance of 40 presidential candidates
under the auspices of the Patriotic Forum of Presidential Candidates
(PFPC), has collapsed over the surreptitious move by some of their
leaders to adopt President Muhammadu Buhari for the 2019 elections.
Speaking
on Thursday in Abuja during the meeting of a new alliance tagged
Patriotic Presidential Forum (PPF), the Chairman of the forum and
Presidential candidate of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), Dr.
Onwubuya Breakforth, said the older forum collapsed due to the planned
adoption of President Buhari, contrary to the spirit of the forum.
While
he refused to name names, Daily Trust reliably learnt that, the
Chairman of the PFPC and National Chairman of the Advanced Peoples
Democratic Alliance (APDA), Alhaji Shittu Kabiru Mohammed, met with APC
and Presidency officials on moves to adopt President Buhari.
Shittu
however told Daily Trust that he would rather be on the part of
patriotism and national interest than individual interests.
“This
forum was formed with about 30 presidential candidates. We are looking
at how we can have free and fair 2019 General Elections; engagement with
INEC to ensure that INEC remains an unbiased umpire as it ought to be.
“Secondly
to engage with various security agencies that they do not take side and
remain neutral and also to engage the international communities like
the UN, AU, EU, US and other embassies in Nigeria to beam their
satellite to ensure that we have free, credible and violent-free
election in 2019.
“At the end of the day, we want to be able to
tell Nigerians that we are the third force. As individual candidates, we
may not be able to favourably compete with the APC or PDP, but when we
come together, as a strong force, we can be able to compete against the
seemingly dominant parties and bigger brothers and salvage Nigeria.
“One
of us who was the chairman of the PFPC derailed in choosing his
alliance contrary to the spirit of the forum and the forum said no we
cannot go with that form as it has been corrupted.
“As far as we
are concerned, the other forum is no longer in existence as 90 percent
of members of the other forum are here with us,” Breakforth said.
Also,
the Vice Chairman of the new forum and Presidential candidate of the
National Action Council (NAC) Hajiya Rabia Rakad Cengiz, said the forum
will soon come out with details of its meeting and its resolutions.
When
contacted on Thursday night, Alhaji Shittu Kabiru Mohammed, said the
proponents of the new forum were free to make their choice in the spirit
of democracy.
While he refused to directly respond to his
reported adoption of President Buhari, he told Daily Trust that it would
be better to be patriotic rather than forming another ‘third force’.
“For
me, it is better to look at the interest of the nation first and do
things that would make the country better and stronger,” he said.
Source:- Dailytrustng
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