BUSINESS DAY NG
Ahead of the 2027 general election, some opposition politicians led by Kunle Okunola, businessman mogul and former People’s Democratic Party (PDP), House of Representatives candidate for Ikeja federal constituency 1 in the 2019 election and other groups have unveiled a newly proposed political party known as African Reformation Party (ARP).
The unveiling Tuesday had in attendance chieftains of ARP across the geo-political zones in the country.
At the event which took place in Lagos, the politicians said the new party has become necessary due to the failure of the existing parties in the country to tackle the socioeconomic problems bedeviling the country.
Speaking at the event, Okunola, berated President Bola Tinubu for failing to keep to its campaign promises and pushing more Nigerians into poverty through his policies since he assumed office.
He noted that the existing political parties have failed Nigerians and have been compromised by the federal government, wondering why they can not protest against the unpopular policies of Tinubu.
Okunola stated that if the new party is voted into power, it would probe past leaders of the country beginning from 1960 till date and what they have stolen would be recovered for the good of the country.
He decried the reluctance of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to register new political parties while swifty deregistering existing ones.
Okunola, who displayed several letters the party has written to the INEC since 2020 till date with responses from the electoral body, revealed that if by December 2024, the party is not registered, it would have no other choice than to occupy INEC offices in Nigeria until the party is registered.
The politician, who disclosed that the party came on board on July 1, 2019, noted that it has embarked on nationwide registration of members and its target is to realise over 54 million members across the nation. With such membership the party would win the 2027 election, he said.
He added that those who won elections with only 8 million votes in a country of more than 200 million people have no mandate and legitimacy.
Okunola and his group made it clear that the expression of interest from in the party is free unlike in other parties where they charge as high as N100 million which automatically disenfranchises the poor from contesting the election.
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He said, “The party is not going to ask for any nomination form and if we’re not going to ask for any nomination form, our tickets are going to be based on merit.
“ It’s a crime that a political party that is registered with N1 million is asking for N100 million from aspirants, N10 million from the aspirants, making the party only for the rich, pushing the poor in the background. Today what we have is a bunch of criminals seeking offices with money.”
He said under his leadership with the level at which the economy is operating, the minimum wage would be N700,000. He decried a situation where less than 3000 people in the country are holding over 200 million Nigerians hostage due to the weakness of the people to fight for their rights.
Okunola hinted of his readiness to set up an agricultural prison where those convicted for syphoning the nation’s wealth would be sent to work for the people.
Speaking on the ideology of the party and how it began, he said, “The party believes in power rotation, 2019 which marked the second tenure of former president Muhammadu Buhari, we were bewildered by challenges of succession, and we knew that the Northerners were completing their eight years term and definitely power has to rotate to the south, and if power must rotate, we looked for somebody who has the political capacity and that was why we set up this movement, new reformation unity forum.
