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The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) says the All Progressives Congress (APC) has met all the requirements to consummate its merger, hence INEC has no defensible reason not to approve the merger. In a statement issued in Lagos on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said in spite of recent media reports concerning the antics of some negative forces within INEC over APC's registration, the emerging party's leadership has no doubt that in the end, the electoral body will do what is right in accordance with the law. It therefore dismissed as a mere speculation the report that INEC was planning to write a letter to the proponents of APC to find another name because of a court case instituted by a political association over the APC acronym. ''We are convinced that INEC has no discernible reason to write such a letter to us. In the first instance, there exists no court injunction anywhere restraining the commission from registering APC. T...

By Donu Kogbara LAST week, I angrily accused the Action Congress of Nigeria , ACN, of treachery, inconsistency, religious insensitivity and political parochialism. This tirade was largely motivated by the fact that various Rivers people, including my cousin Kenneth Kobani (the ACN’s former National Treasurer), have told me that they joined the ACN in good faith before the 2011 election but eventually resigned because they felt disrespected. [caption id="attachment_380079" align="alignnone" width="412"] From left: Aremo Osoba, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd.) Chief Akande, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Malla Nuhu Ribadu, Senator Lawal Shuaibu and others ACN, members at the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) National Convention held at Onikan Stadium, Lagos Island. on 18/04/2013. Photo: Bunmi Azeez[/caption] Most of the Vanguard readers who reacted to my comments shared my view that the ACN can be amorally pragmatic and has not invested much energy in winning support out...

The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has accused the PDP of being unrelenting in its determination to overheat the polity and set the country on fire, if that will satisfy one man's personal ambition to hold on to power. In a statement issued in Lagos ,Sunday, by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said it was left with no choice than to reach that conclusion after a faction of Rivers PDP reportedly loyal to President Goodluck Jonathan expelled the state Governor, Hon. Chibuike Amaechi, at a time all people of goodwill were calling for a resolution of the lingering crisis. It warned that the overzealous ruling party's sole interest is power, without caring about the responsibility that goes with it, hence it must be checked through all constitutional means before it plunges the country into unmitigated chaos.  ACN said while whatever transpired within the PDP is not its business, its (ACN's) concerns stem from the dangerous impact that the River...

The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has urged the police to be more circumspect and avoid being partisan in their ongoing investigation into the crisis in Rivers State, if the outcome of the investigation is to be acceptable to Nigerians. In a statement, Thursday, by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the fact that only the security aides of Gov. Chibuike Amaechi have been invited to Abuja for questioning by the police hierarchy, and also the fact that only the majority leader of the State House of Assembly, Chidi Lloyd, has been declared wanted, have provided an insight into the thinking of the police on the issue. [caption id="attachment_403503" align="alignnone" width="412"] Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State[/caption] It wondered why Rivers Police Commissioner Mbu Joseph Mbu, who provided cover for the five renegade lawmakers to attack the House while failing to provide security for the House to sit, and the le...

By Donu Koghara The Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, has always tried to position itself as a highly credible opposition party that is capable of appealing to voters in every geopolitical zone and can take on the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. I once had enormous respect for the ACN but have gradually concluded that it lacks the integrity to challenge the rotten-to-the-core PDP. Why have I lost faith in ACN? Because it has consistently betrayed its supporters in Rivers State. This betrayal started when ACN stalwarts like Bola Tinubu went out of their way to to form cosy relationships with the (PDP) Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, thereby totally ignoring the feelings of Rivers natives such as Dr Abiye Sekibo (an ex-Minister of Transport), who had joined ACN because they were at loggerheads with Amaechi or simply wanted an alternative to the PDP. The ACN then spectacularly failed to provide its Rivers candidates with adequate financial or moral support during the run-up...