The Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has described the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC as a party already in intensive unit care and may soon die like the Peoples Democratic Party, which he said was already in the hands of undertakers preparatory to burial, but quick to add that a 'third force' (a political party) will soon emerge.
Obasanjo made the declaration on Friday according to Nigerian Tribune at his Abeokuta Hilltop resident in Abeokuta, Ogun State Capital when he received members of a political association, The National Patriots’ Movement of Nigeria (NPMN), led by the national coordinator, Chief Dosu Oladipo
At the meeting, which lasted for about five hours, were more than 70 eminent politicians drawn from all the states in the South-West.
The purpose of the meeting, Sunday Tribune gathered, was to inform the former president of the aim of the group and seek his elderly advice.
The former leader used the occasion of the visit to bare his mind on the debate of the possible emergence of a third force, as the march towards 2019 general election progressed.
He was of the view that the precarious state of the PDP Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), coupled with the internal contradictions in the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) was a pointer to a ‘third force’ emerging in the nearest future.
He restated his position that while the PDP was already in the hands of undertakers preparatory to burial, the APC was at an intensive unit because its internal organs were seriously haemorraged.
He expressed delight at the calibre and integrity of the members of NPMN, which comprised former ministers, governors, members of the National Assembly, envoys, and other categories of professionals.
The three-time Nigerian leader said the initial report he got about the organisation was that it was being sponsored by a notable politician to prepare ground and serve as a launching pad for his (the Politician’s) presidential ambition.
Obasanjo urged NPMN leaders and members to neither be too slow nor too fast on the project they had embarked on but to sustain the tempo of their ongoing consultations and “footwork” before launching what he described as groundwork.
He promised that he would continue to identify only with groups with altruistic intentions for the overall unity and development of the country, just as he reaffirmed his status as a Yoruba man.
The national coordinator, Chief Oladipo, in his remark, said it was a political movement comprising people of integrity and who felt it was time for them to stand up to be counted at this period in the history of the country.