The Lagos chapter of of the National Conscience Party (NCP) on Monday called on the national leadership to take the party out of the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP).
The state chairman of the party, Mr Fatai Ibuowo, made the call in an interview in Lagos.
NCP was one of the 39 opposition parties that signed a Memorandum of Understanding on July 9 on the coalition to oust the ruling All Progressives Congress(APC) in 2019.
The decision of the Tanko Yinusa-led NCP had sharply divided the party as some state chapters opposed the coalition while others support the party’s inclusion.
The party leadership has, however, retained the NCP in the People’s Democratic Party (PDP)-led coalition, which has since witnessed the exit of the Action Democratic Party (ADP) and Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN) among others, based on ideological conflicts.
Ibu-Owo said the continued inclusion of NCP in the coalition was an embarrassment to the state chapter.
According to him, NCP is odd in the group, and its ideology is diametrically opposed to the parties in the coalition.
“We are not comfortable having our party in the coalition, and we will continue to insist that the national leadership pull us out.
“The ideology of the party as defined by our late founder, Chief Gani Fawehinmi, does not fit into the group where you have parties like the PDP.
“We cannot be in the same alliance with PDP, for the party has a record of corruption and non-performance.
“Once again, we call on the National Chairman, Mr Tanko Yinusa, to take us out of the group because we don’t belong there,” he said.
Ibu-Owo said that the party should have looked out for parties like the People’s Redemption Party (PRP) and the Socialist Party if it must enter an alliance ahead of 2019.
He explained that NCP had similar ideology with parties like PRP, and together they could offer real leadership if they got into power.
Asked what steps the chapter and others opposed to the coalition would take if the leadership refused to back out, Ibu-Owo said they would work against the coalition.
He said the chapter and other disagreeing chapters would only support the presidential candidate in the party and never anyone adopted by the coalition.
“They can have their own; we are going to have our presidential candidate, and that is who we are supporting.
“We are watching, and at the appropriate time, we will take the right steps,” he said.
On the commencement of the cycle of activities ahead of the 2019 elections, Ibu-Owo said the party had already commenced preparations.
He said that forms for party primaries had been made available for members seeking political offices at no cost.
The party chairman said the party would contest all political offices in the state including the governorship and the three senatorial seats.
He said that the party meant well for the masses and would deliver the goods if given the mandate. (NAN)
