2023: LP, NNPP merger talks still ongoing, says Utomi’s Consultative Front 

The Prof. Pat Utomi-led National Consultative Front, has said contrary to speculations in some quarters, merger talks between Labour Party and the New Nigeria Peoples Party has not broken down.
Head, Public Affairs Directorate of the NC Front, Dr. Yunusa Tanko, and the National Publicity Secretary of the NNPP, Dr. Agbo Major, confirmed the development in separate telephone interviews with the VANGUARD, in Abuja, on Thursday.

The Pat Utomi-led NC Front spearheaded the coalition which midwifed the adoption of Peter Obi as the presidential candidate of the Labour Party.
Tanko explained that the candidature of Peter Obi has grown beyond his political platform the Labour Party and has grown into a mass movement which Nigerians across ethno-religious and sectional divides are identifying with.

This, he said, has made it imperative for all citizens irrespective of political party affiliations to identify with.
According to him, “The talks between the Labour Party which is the platform we in the NC Front, the #EndSARs and several other civil society groups have adopted to deliver this pan-Nigerian candidate to the best of our knowledge is still in talks with the NNPP which has some of our members.

“We are open to partnerships which will deliver our motherland from the unimaginable suffering and insecurity we are currently experiencing. The mass unemployment, poverty and insecurity which we have been forced to live within the past seven years does not discriminate among Nigerians from the North to the South, from the West to the East, we are all victims.
“The sooner we realize this and work together to boot out the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party, the better for us all.”

Speaking in a similar vein, the National Publicity Secretary of the NNPC, Dr. Agbo Major, confirmed that there were ongoing talks about how best to collaborate ahead of the 2023 general elections.
He said, “The 2023 general election is still months away, our leaders are still discussing it because we all agree that most Nigerians are tired of the mess the APC-led regime has plunged Nigeria into.
“We need each other to succeed in this quest to rescue this country. Discussions are on and I can assure Nigerians that when we arrive at a decision, it will be made public.”
Recall that the Labour Party had denied speculations that its standard bearer, Peter Obi, was prepared to serve as running mate to the NNPP Presidential candidate, Sen. Rabiu Kwankwaso. The NNPP equally dismissed reports that its flag bearer was willing to serve as Obi’s running mate.