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Babachir Lawal, former Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF) has said that the coalition adopted the African Democratic Congress (ADC) instead of registering a new political party because the government of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is undemocratic and has been frustrating the registration of new political parties.
Lawal who spoke on Arise TV on Tuesday noted that at the time the All Progressives Congress (APC) was formed there were leaders who were tolerant of opposition parties, but regretted that the party in power now has the practice of sabotaging opposition political parties.
He said, “I was active in the formation of the APC. I was a member of the merger committee. The time was different. We were operating at a time when the government in power was composed of reasonable people who attempted as much as they could in the environment to practice democracy. So they allowed the merger to go on successfully. Yes, at one time they tried to infiltrate it, but it wasn’t successful. So the APC was formed from parties.
“Now, as the country progresses politically, we have leaders that are undemocratic. We have leaders that have, as a hobby, the practice of sabotaging opposition political parties.
“This wasn’t in place in 2004, 2005. Now we have parties that have been scattered. We’re aware that the Labour Party has been purchased by the government.
“PDP has been purchased by the government and has scattered it to our own great advantage, I must say. Now, in the times we operate, we’ve a government that we believe might not allow the registration of new political parties. If they’re sabotaging existing ones, how will they now go and allow registration of new ones with the caliber of people that are trying to register a new political party?
“So we had two options. Register a new political party. We had a committee that was looking into that. We decided that the wisdom to enter an existing political party posed less risk than registering a new one. Because we’re aware that there are some groups that have submitted their applications for more than two years now, and all they got is a non-immigrant letter from us. So, on our own part, we don’t have the time to wait until after the election before we have a certificate of registration. This government won’t allow it.
“You don’t deceive yourself, though. This party won’t allow the type of people you’re showing on your TV now to register a new political party. So we decided that the best way is to enter an existing one that can accommodate us, that has the provision in their constitution to make this possible.
“So that’s what we did. Look at the people in this party. They’re not idiots. They’re intelligent Nigerians with a long history of political activism.”
