APC, PDP A 3rd political force is about to be born

A new political party thinks it can win where the PDP and APC have failed. It's an unprecedented realignment of political forces

A new political party which will aim to wrest control of the polity from the duo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) is on its way, various sources privy to the development told Pulse last weekend.

“That political party will be such a strong force and it’s one Nigerians will immediately embrace”, once source revealed to this medium over Pizza on a sunny afternoon in the nation’s commercial capital of Lagos.

Various other political heavyweights in the country have revealed to Pulse that an alignment and realignment of political forces in the nation is currently underway.

“Meetings are being held in the major cities in each geopolitical zone and very soon, we’ll have that party”, one prominent politician in the South West.

 “We just held one of our meetings in Lagos last week and we’ve been holding series of these kinds of meetings as we try to put this political party together”, added the prominent politician who’s been part of these gatherings at the highest levels.

It's a strategy they are hoping can be pulled off.

“As you are aware, the APC at the center has been struggling with the economy”,“If things continue the way there are, well into 2017; and given the type of manifesto and programs we’ll present to Nigerians; given the pedigree of the politicians who’ll be selling this party to Nigerians, I can tell you that we’ll displace APC at the center come 2019”, he added confidently.

“We’ll be a party of the young and old. Unlike the APC and PDP, we’ll actually allow younger Nigerians have a say in the affairs of our party. In the first quarter of 2017, Nigerians will be proud to have a party they can call theirs,” offered another politician.

It also looks like a pretty good time to usher in another political party— with the APC and PDP battling different forms of internal crises.

APC heads into the Ondo governorship election, not throwing its full weight behind standard bearer, Oluwarotimi Akerodolu.

Indeed, APC leader and strongman of South West politics, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is no fan of Akerodolu.

Tinubu’s candidate for the election, Olusegun Abraham lost out in the party primaries.

So miffed was Tinubu about not having his way in Ondo, the Jagaban of Borgu called on APC Chairman John Odigie-Oyegun to throw in the towel for allegedly rigging the primary contest in Akerodolu's favour.

Tinubu’s letter was so scathing and vitriolic, Oyegun needed a few more days to pen his response.

Grapevine reports suggest that Tinubu will be pulling the rug from under the APC’s feet by no longer bankrolling the party he helped forge together.

Last weekend, a few loyalists of Tinubu’s took to the streets to say the Buhari Presidency has treated the former Lagos Governor badly in spite of all he’s done for the party.

“The man that started the whole revolution (Tinubu) is now being rubbished because of the inordinate ambition of very few members of the party. They want to destroy the party and that is why we are concerned about what is going on. If we allow a few people to truncate what we fought for, then the promise made to Nigerians would not be fulfilled”, lamented Henry Ajomale who is the APC Chairman in Lagos.

Olusola Oke who is flying the flag of the AD in the Ondo governorship election, is now assured Tinubu’s support,.

Oke’s social media campaign has since been taken over by a crop of young men and women who swear by Tinubu.

Tinubu was also ominously absent during the campaign launch of the APC in Ondo--a move that political pundits have linked to the man’s growing desire to severe ties with his party, at least behind the scenes.

“He’s no longer playing an active role in the APC”, said one APC chieftain who craved anonymity for this story. “First, his candidate, James Faleke was badly treated in Kogi and you all saw what happened in Ondo. If Tinubu can no longer have a say in how the APC is run, he’d better keep his distance”, the chieftain lamented.

The PDP isn’t faring any better. It has paraded two chairmen in Ahmed Makarfi and Ali Modu Sheriff, since the turn of the year.  It went into the Edo governorship contest with two candidates before eventually settling for one on the eve of voting; and it is playing a similar, disoriented card as it heads into the Ondo governorship election.

It is this disharmony in the two biggest political camps in the country, which the incoming ‘third force’ intends to latch on into reckoning.

The 'third force' guys think they are savvy enough to spot a fertile political field when they see one.

And at this stage, all bets are off.