Facts emerged on Wednesday why Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) would not field any candidate for Lokoja Local Government in the May 4 local government poll in Kogi State.
The ACN’s decision not to present any candidate for the election in Lokoja Council Area is in the spirit of the ongoing merger between CPC, All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and the ACN.
Though, it will contest and present candidates in other 20 council areas, but in the arrangement that a party will support others where it has comparative advantage is responsible for ACN to leave alone Lokoja Council for the CPC. The CPC candidate, however, cemented the agreement by picking his vice from the ACN fold for the election.
The state secretary of the ACN, Abdukadir Yahaya, confirmed this when the Nigerian Tribune met him at the party secretariat disclosing that “ we are not going to present any candidate for Lokoja Council as we are going to support fully the candidate of the CPC in support and consolidation of the merger.”
Also the success or failure of the ongoing reconciliation between the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Tunde Ogbeha group will determine where the group will pitch its tent in the forthcoming poll.
The former Senator and his group are the determining factor in politics as far as the council area is concerned but they could not arrive at a candidate in the last chairmanship primary which resulted in a faction, thus the boycott by a faction.
The meeting between the group and the reconciliation team could not arrive at a point when they met on Wednesday, as some maintained that they would vote in protest for the CPC candidate in the election while others believed that whatever happened, they would remain with their party (PDP.)
A reliable source from the meeting informed that the aggrieved were still adamant, maintaining their stand on a protest vote while the reconciliation team was still pressing on knowing the importance of losing the Lokoja Council to the opposition.
