Following the disagreement that trailed the choice of the date for the all important All Nigerian Political Parties Summit between the Special Adviser to the President on Inter-Party Affairs, Sen. Ben Obi and the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), the New Nigerian Peoples’ Party (NNPP) has called on the both sides to bury their ego and reconcile their differences.
The call was contained in a press release issued and signed by the National Chairman of the Party, Dr. Boniface Aniebonam, a copy of which was obtained by Primetime Reporters.
The release stated that NNPP was deeply concerned about the discordant tunes between the parties concerned in the feud especially as exemplified by the six points communique issued at the end of the emergency meeting of IPAC on Tuesday 21 May, 2014.
According to the release,” in the communique made available to NNPP, IPAC expressed disappointment that they were not consulted before the date for the political parties summit was fixed by the Special Adviser to Mr. President, dissociated itself from the June 12, 2014 Summit, reiterated that its earlier planned June 9, 2014 political parties summit will still hold, wants to be positively engaged in all our political processes, recalled its members exclusion from the on-going National Confab and called for the unconditional release of the Chibok girls by their Boko Haram abductors”.
It said that without doubt, the situation in the country called for serious caution and concerted efforts towards dousing the trend and that it was the considered opinion of the the party that all hands must be on deck in that regard, both in their utterances and conduct.
“It is against this background that we welcome the forthcoming All Nigerian Political Parties Summit as it is timely and appropriate to rub minds at this critical time in the history of our country”, the release said.
NNPP through the release pointed out that aware that Nigeria was in a precarious situation because of the “I-Know-it-all” belief of most Nigerians, the opportunity offered by the present political leaders in the country by way of the All Nigerian Political Parties Summit should not be frittered away on the altar of ego and muscle flexing.
The party while blaming the Special Adviser to the President on Inter-Party Affairs for not consulting the IPAC before coming up with the date for the summit however said that it was consoled by the fact that,” it may be a mistake of the head and not of the heart”, borne out of a genuine effort to mitigate some problems confronting the nation adding that nothing should be allowed to truncate the lofty ideals behind the summit.
It therefore advised both the Special Adviser and IPAC to harmonize their positions and come up with a generally acceptable date in no distance time for what it called the very crucial summit.
While commending President Goodluck Jonathan for the opportunity he provided for the political parties to interact in the interest of the country, the party however called on him to seize every opportunity that presented itself towards making Nigeria great.
On the abducted Chibok girls, the party made a passionate appeal to their Boko Haram abductors to release the girls unconditionally adding that as parents and relatives of the affected girls, they felt the pains that those girls were spending their sixth week in an uncertain terrain away from the comfort of their homes.
NNPP further counseled Nigerians on the need to unite in their collective resolve to sort out the problems posed by the Boko Haram insurgents by flushing them out of the country saying that there was a compelling need to work together as a people rather than buck passing or engaging in pull him down syndrome as according to them,” this is not the time to play politics because we have to be alive to do so”.
