The Coalition for Nigeria Movement will open
offices across the six geo-political zones of the country this week.
The Director-General of the Goodluck Jonathan
Campaign Organisation in 2015, Senator Ahmadu Ali, has also been named as the
protem chairman of the coalition.
The Director, Media and Public Communications,
Mr. Akin Osuntokun, confirmed these during an interview with our correspondent
on Saturday.
Osuntokun said, “We are going to inaugurate zonal
offices in the six geo-political zones this week. We have done the one for
Abuja already. We will subsequently launch campaigns in the 36 states of
the federation.”
On why most of the personalities in the
organisation are from southern Nigeria, Osuntokun said, “That is not correct.
Ahmadu Ali is the protem chairman to begin with. Don’t forget that the
coalition has just been launched and there will be more developments as time
goes on.”
When asked why the coalition was accepting old
politicians despite preaching a shift of power to the youth, Osuntokun said
there was a need to blend the old and the new.
He said, “For any organisation to survive, no
matter your ambition, it has to be a blend of the old and the new. The
coalition will be depriving itself of a source of strength if you rule out
completely the enlistment of significant political actors who have been on the
stage for a while.
“Also, not all of them are tainted. There are
quite a number of them that have their integrity intact. In politics, you don’t
drive people away as long as they subscribe to the ideology of your
organisation.”
The former Managing Director of the News
Agency of Nigeria said all persons were welcome in the party.
When asked if the National Leader of the All
progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, would be welcome into the
coalition, he said, “If Tinubu says he is joining, that will be a big boost to
the organisation because he is a big fish. He has immense political value in
terms of followership and boots on the ground.”
He refused to mention the names of the 13
governors said to be planning to join the coalition, saying it wouldn’t be
strategic for him to do so.
Reacting to whether the collation would merge
with the APC or the People’s Democratic Party ahead of the 2019 elections,
Oshuntokun said both political parties had lost the confidence of Nigerians and
it was unlikely that the coalition would endorse either of the two.
Osuntokun, however, stated that it was possible for
the coalition to register as a political party and contest independently.
Asked if a former Governor of Osun State, Prince
Olagunsoye Oyinlola, would resign as Chairman of the National Identity
Management Commission in order to prove his loyalty to the coalition, Osuntokun
said there was no need for him to do so.
He added that President Muhammadu Buhari was free
to sack him but there was no need for Oyinlola to resign since the appointment
was not the exclusive preserve of APC members.
Osuntokun added, “He is a Nigerian citizen and
that is all a person needs to be given a public appointment. If I were in his
position, I would leave it to the President to decide.
“There is no law that says it is only members of
the President’s party who should be appointed to public office. Until the
President decides otherwise, he can remain there and if I were him, I would not
resign because I have done nothing wrong.”
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