A Former National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, Chief Victor Umeh has disclosed that negotiations between the Labour Party, LP and the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP to form a coalition ahead of the 2023 Elections have completely collapsed.
Umeh, who was recently interviewed on Channels TV breakfast programme, Sunrise Daily, said that coalition talks failed on June 15th.
He criticised the NNPP Presidential Candidate and Former Kano Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso for giving the impression that talks were still ongoing between both parties.
In his words; “We are surprised at the recent media blaze by the members of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) to continuously suggest that they were locked in a negotiation with the Labour Party to have a partnership or arrangement where the two parties will work together in 2023.”
“We are surprised to continuously see this, we had this discussion precisely on June 15, more than three weeks ago. What necessitated the meeting was that the NNPP and LP working together will give a better opportunity for the presidential election to be won. And the two parties set up two teams.”
“Myself, Julius Aboreh, the Labour Party chairman who led our team; Doyin Okupe went to that discussion on behalf of the Labour Party; while the NNPP put forward Buba Galadima, Abdullahi Baffa, former executive secretary of TETFUND, and Ladipo Johnson.
“It was a three-man team; we met for long hours, adjourned and we came back. When it became obvious that it had become a dialogue between a deaf and dumb person, we called off the negotiation.”
Confirming Umeh’s statements, Doyin Okupe, a chieftain of the Labour Party, disclosed that merger talks between both parties failed because Kwankwaso insisted on being the Presidential Candidate.
He said during coalition talks he had asked the NNPP leadership if it was fair to field Kwankwaso, a northerner, of which the NNPP leadership said there was nothing wrong with that.
