National Chairman of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Ajuji Ahmed, has alleged that one of the strategies of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to sustain its grip on power beyond 2027 is to ignite crises in some of the opposition political parties.
Ahmed disclosed this in Akure, Ondo state capital, while addressing journalists at the party’s governorship campaign flag-off.
The NNPP chairman said the APC was doing everything it could do in order to win the 2027 general elections.
He accused the ruling party of masterminding crises in some of the opposition political parties.
Ahmed said: “APC is doing everything it can in order to win the 2027 general elections. Certainly, there is evidence everywhere that they are interfering in other parties.
“But it is left to the other political parties to maintain their integrity and ensure they remain one and viable opposition to the APC before and after the 2027 election.”
He disclosed that NNPP was ready to form an alliance with other political parties ahead of the 2027 general elections with a view to dislodging APC.
“The ruling APC should be prepared to hand over power after President Bola Tinubu’s government. NNPP had been in collaboration with opposition parties to form an alliance ahead of the 2027 poll.
“So, we have our doors open. If there is going to be a coalition of all the political parties to go into the election, we are ready for that,” he said.
The NNPP chairman asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to give all the political parties participating in the November 16 poll a level-playing ground.
Ahmed, who urged the voters to troop out to vote for the NNPP candidate, Olugbenga Edema, also admonished them to defend their votes.
He said: “Edema is a party loyalist whose programmes and policies for the people of the state would put an end to the economic crisis and current hardship caused by the government of the APC.”
Edema, while addressing the crowd, stated that NNPP was a party to beat in the forthcoming governorship election, urging them to guide against any attempt to manipulate the outcome of the poll.
“We are saying Ondo state is not Edo state. Ondo is not Lagos state. The people of Ondo are one of the most enlightened in the whole country. We are capable of protecting our votes, and we will protect it. We do not fear them. We will dare them.
“The last one happened in Edo state with the fraud. How they went to all the collation centres and manipulated the results of the election that were sent from the polling units was worrisome.
“They took the result from collation centres to INEC headquarters which is contrary to the electoral act which states that you should do your counting at the venue where the election was conducted,” Edema said.