“A positive storm is brewing” – Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu speech at the ACN party dissolution convention which took place at the Onikan Stadium, Lagos, Nigeria on April 18, 2013.
SACRIFICING THE PARTY TO SAVE NIGERIA
1. History is upon us, asking something bold of us. Those who hear must respond to its call because history is impatient. If we tarry, history shall not. If we fail to act as the situation requires, history will still move forward and its pen will write an unanswerable verdict against us. All the prior achievements and feats we have recorded in the past will matter little unless we now answer the challenge now facing us.
We have come to the place where things must change or we shall sink. For the nation to continue as is constitutes nothing less than an invitation to doom. Such a fate we shall not abide. (more…)
Speech By General Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, Chairman Of The Board Of Trustees Of The Congress For Progressive Change, CPC, At The Party’s National Dissolution Convention In Abuja, May 11, 2013
With your permission, Mr Chairman, I would like to begin by welcoming all the CPC delegates to this historic occasion. And our special welcome goes out to our friends and colleagues from sister-parties, notably Chief Bisi Akande, Chief Audu Ogbeh, Musa Gwadabe, Dr. Yakubu Lame, Governors Raji Fashola and Ibikunle Amosun, former Governors Achike Udenwa, Segun Osoba and Chris Ngige, Alhaji Lai Mohammed of the ACN, Senator Ahmed Sani, Yariman Bakura, of the ANPP, and Owelle Rochas Okorocha of APGA.
2. But before I deliver my speech, I would like all of us here and across the country to reflect on the seriousness of the security situation in the country today. Some areas of the nation are virtual war zones in a country supposedly at peace. Whole local governments in some states in the North East are no-go areas to representatives of constituted authority. Marauders of every description armed to the teeth with all manner of sophisticated armaments roam the national landscape with total and murderous impunity. The patience of this nation and the various communities within it has been severely tried and stretched to its limits. And there is no end in sight.
3. Anarchy is knocking on the door of many sections of this country and the Federal government has not demonstrated that it has the good sense to understand what is going on, or the competence to check it. The nation is hopelessly adrift. But, if we are to survive, this vicious circle of violence that has engulfed this nation must be brought to an end; and we implore the National Assembly to take the lead in this quest for peace. I am sure everybody in this gathering will join me in expressing sympathy for, and solidarity with, the good people of Borno, Yobe, Kano, and now, Nasarawa and Benue states on their suffering and travails.
4. Mr. Chairman, distinguished guests and fellow delegates, we must explore every opportunity to save our country. This is a historic moment when several different political parties have resolved to come together to change Nigeria for the better and stop the mindless drift that has been going on for the last fourteen years. We must understand and accept that we are here gathered to make history or forever stand accused and condemned by it. We must seize this moment that calls for patriotism and sacrifice—it is time to sacrifice everything—time , resources, ambition and ego—for the greater good. We should carry this process through to a successful conclusion, and leave our legacy and foot-prints on the history of Nigeria.
5. Many political analysts have long stated that the only way to stabilize the country is for opposition parties to merge and oust the ruling PDP. In 2010, during the run-up to the elections of 2011, ACN and CPC inaugurated committees to explore ways and means of merging into a single political party.
6. We have gone to the extent of developing a flag, a logo, a name and have even proceeded to discuss with the Independent Electoral Commission, INEC, about the modalities of consummating our plans; but time proved too short, and we were not about to give too many hostages to fortune.
7. So the present move is really a continuation of the efforts begun in 2010; and this time we have started early, following the rules step by step. On its part, the CPC has, within the last two months, established the following committees with appropriate terms of reference:
Merger Committee;
Convention Committee;
Membership and Registration Committee;
Contact and Mobilization Committee; and
Publicity Committee;
8. The objective of these committees is to prepare CPC for the proposed merger; and these committees have satisfactorily concluded their assignments and their proposals have been submitted to NEC and to the Board of Trustees, and these are now being presented to you, the National Convention, the highest policy making body of our party. Other parties have fast-tracked their processes and some have even held their conventions. So far, so good. No doubt, all the parties joining to form APC are coming in as equals; but, realistically, we all know that some are more equal than others. Nevertheless, every joining party will bring its peculiar strengths to this union and together we will, in every sense of the word, be too strong for the ruling party to resist. With this, we believe the time for real change has finally come to Nigeria—and it must change now before it become too late. The government has failed in almost everything; it has proved unable to secure the nation’s internal environment: there is insecurity everywhere. There is spiraling lawlessness all over the country. There is widespread and rising poverty and unemployment across the length and breadth of the country. There is a complete and total decline in the quality of social services and an irremediable dilapidation in the nation’s socio-economic infrastructure across board.
9. There is an unprecedented fall in the nation’s standard of living and an astronomical rise in the standard of dying. In short, today, there is nothing going right; and we have become a nation in which nothing works as it should, that is, if it works at all. When they said they have what they call a Transformation Agenda, we didn’t understand, but we now know better; because, within the space of three years, they have transformed the country into a veritable wilderness, where everything that should work, doesn’t; where everything that can get broken, has.
10. They promised to give the nation credible elections; they couldn’t deliver. They promised to fight corruption, they couldn’t deliver. They promised to stop the insurgency, and they couldn’t deliver. This nation is witness to the fact that whenever we promised, we delivered. And today, I promise you most solemnly that we shall confront and eliminate corruption in the electoral process. We shall confront and eliminate corruption in the judicial process; and we shall most assuredly confront and eliminate it in the conduct of government business.
11. All these evils derive and draw inspiration from a government that is itself immersed to its neck in a cesspool of corruption; and is best characterized by its own favourite catchphrases: whether it is ‘Do or die,’ or ‘We will rule forever,’ or ‘No vacancy in Aso Rock,’ or they want to ‘fight to finish,’ it is the same thing—something that could never be uttered by true democrats. Their behaviour, language and body language are in complete and total disregard for democratic norms and the ordinary decencies of civilized conduct.
12. We intend to provide a government of different quality and tone to the people of Nigeria, one that will tackle the problem of insecurity, solve the perennial issue of incessant power failure, arrest the shameful deterioration in the standard of education, confront the decline in agricultural production head-on, and stop the collapse of commerce and industry.
13. Ladies and gentlemen, fellow CPC members on behalf of the Board of Trustees of our party, I commend the proposals shortly to be put before you. The best way to eliminate this government that has not brought anything to Nigerians except thievery of resources and violence is to accept to merge our parties. And we only elect to do this because that is what we believe to be in the best interest of the majority of the people of this country.
14. And I would like to end by once again thanking our steadfast supporters—you, the ordinary folks—who have been the unbreakable backbone of this struggle, from the time we started this journey in APP to ANPP and then to CPC. You did not do it for material gain; otherwise, you will have turned your backs on us. No doubt, you decided to stay the course as a mark of respect for our stand, and possibly knowing that we would never let you down. You relied on our judgment to forge ahead through the thicket of the country’s corruption-lade n politics. This we have tried to do to the best of our ability, and will continue to do so until the masses of this country secure a fair deal from those who lead them. What we desire is democracy and freedom for all our people. And in this struggle, we think we have done our bit.
15. At its formation, the CPC became the greatest crowd-pulling party in the nation’s political history; and within six months of its registration, and in spite of all the rigging of the poll and the snatching of its votes, it was still able to get more than 12 million votes in the 2011 presidential election. After the merger, the sky will be the limit.
16. While thanking you again, I implore you not to relent as we embark on yet another move in the search for a better tomorrow for our country, Nigeria. We are now in the final stages of the move that will culminate in the merger of our party—the CPC—with three other parties. We join this effort compromising none of our principles but yielding to the belief that our diverse efforts, applied in unison, will help arrest the rot that has become our lot.
17. We go into this new arrangement still loyal to you and committed to what you stand for.
From L to R: Chief Tony Momoh, Gen. Buhari & Dr. S. Okechukwu Mezu
We go into this arrangement conscious of our responsibilities to you and grateful for all the sacrifices you have been making since the beginning of our journey. We count on you, as we have always done, to guide, support and defend our position. We will strive to work hard to expand and level the democratic playing field in accordance with the dictates of the rule of law. We declare that we are in this together—and together we shall remain to the end.
18. We played by the rules and we accepted to play alongside those who didn’t; because
Brigadier General Buba Marwa and Mallam Nasir El Rufai
we believed our participation was giving millions hope that positive change will come along the way. Now change has finally come; and they cannot stop it. And we are putting the current leadership of this nation on notice that our people will no longer tolerate its corruption or the rigging, vote thievery and general impunity that have become the norm and standard practice during elections in this country.
19. We have resolved that henceforth our votes must all be counted—and they must all go on to count. And we declare that this nation has now resolved, through its united opposition, that it will never again tolerate or allow to pass the mayhem the government deliberately creates in order to cover up its guilt, obscure the issues and then blame the opposition in order to deceive gullible folks. And we will no longer be intimidated by anyone.
Thank you very much for your patience and attention. May God bless us.
General Muhammdu Buhari, GCFR
Delegates at the CPC ConventionConvention crowd at Eagle SquareSalim Farouk and Dr. S. Okechukwu Mezu in Abuja- US Delegates to CPC Dissolution ConventionMore Delegates at CPC ConventionMore Delegates at CPC Convention
Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, National Chairman of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), on Saturday, May 11, 2013 as party members during the ANPP dissolution convention in Gusau, Zamfara State unanimously resolved to endorse the ongoing merger with the two major political parties in the country, stressed that time has come for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to start preparing to be in opposition come 2015. He stated that the Merger Party, All Progressives Congress (APC) came at the right time to rescue the country from imminent collapse and incessant bomb blasts and violence.
Over 6,000 delegates from the thirty six states and Abuja, who are members of the All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, converged in Gusau, the capital of Zamfara State, Saturday, May 11, 2013 to unanimously approve the recommendation of its merger committee, to merge with the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN; and the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC; to form a mega party, the All Progressives Congress, APC. The motion for the merger was moved by Suleiman Argungu, former Deputy Governor of Kebbi State. It was seconded by the party’s chairman in Cross Rivers State, Martins Bisson. The party’s national legal adviser, Salisu Fagge, who moderated the session thereafter asked the delegates to raise their hands if they agree to the motion moved by Mr. Argungu. The motion was unanimously passed.
The national chairman of the party, Ogbonnaya Onu, in his speech, said the National Working Committee under his leadership restored the party’s image in the eyes of Nigerians. He stated that when the present party administration took over two and a half years ago, many had difficulty, distinguishing ANPP from the ruling party PDP but now however, the ANPP has a distinct image as an independent political party full of promise
Mallam Ibrahim Shekerau, ANPP 2011 Presidential Candidate
while promoting strong internal democracy. Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu also said the 14 years of PDP rule has brought nothing but unnecessary killings: “Nigeria at the moment knows no peace, yet we are not at war. People go to Churches and Mosque, unsure if they will return alive, most families cannot provide lunch and dinner, and many children go to bed on empty stomach.” Despite Nigeria being rich, most Nigerians are poor.
Dr Ogbonnaya Onu reiterated that politics without opposition is in vain and is like business without competitors. Opposition is necessary for a healthy and enduring democracy in Nigeria. He said that imposing one political party on the citizens of a country often degenerates and leads to disaster as has been the case and the sad experience of some Arab nations and other countries facing internal crises and social disasters resulting from denial of transparency and democratic justice. “We as a nation,” he insisted, “agree to strand firm for a change from the existing reign of confusion, injustice, selfishness and focus-less leadership of the ruling party.” A total of 6,054 delegates from the 36 states of the federation and Abuja attended the event at the Zamfara Trade Fair complex.
A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja presided over by Justice A.F.A Ademola, on Wednesday, cleared the way for the National Convention of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) slated for Saturday, in Gusau, the capital of Zamfara State.
The court dismissed a case filed by some former senators and House of Representatives members from Katsina State against the party seeking to nullify the CPC national convention held in the Eagle Square, Abuja in January 2011 that produced the present national officers of the party.
From L to R: Chief Tony Momoh, Gen. Buhari & Dr. S. Okechukwu Mezu
A statement by CPC National Publicity Secretary, Mr Rotimi Fasakin, recalled that in the suit No.FHC/ABJ/CS/302/2012, Honourables Mohammad Tukur Sada, Aminu shiru; Murtala Isah; Umar Dankama Abdu; Umar Adam Katsayal; and Alhaji Ahmad Zago Haruna, Dr Yusha U Armayu and Alhaji Shehu Ningi Barau as plaintiffs had sued the party, the National Chairman, Prince Tony Momoh; Alhaji Sule Hamma; Mr Buba Galadima and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) seeking to nullify the outcome of the convention.
In his judgment, Justice Ademola upheld the objection filed by the CPC and three of its principal officers who were among the defendants, saying from the totality of the evidence before the court based on the reliefs contained in their originating summons, the plaintiffs woefully failed to show that they have locus standi to file the case.
He held that the plaintiffs failed to show that they were candidates in the election to elect members of the CPC National Executive Committee during the said convention.
Justice Ademola also held that the suit was statute-barred because the letter written by the INEC dated January 11, 2011 on which the plaintiffs premised their case established that the cause of action arose on January 12, 2011 but that the plaintiffs filed their case more than one year after the cause of action arose.
The judge noted that by virtue of Section 2 (1) of the Public Officers Protection Act, 2004, the case was statute-barred and therefore dismissed the case and awarded a cost of N10,000 each against all the plaintiffs in favour of the defendants.
The plaintiffs had also sought other reliefs such as: an order of the court that the national convention of the first defendant (CPC) held between January 4 and 6, 2011 contravened Article 27 (i) (j) and (k) and Article 27 (c) (i) of the CPC Constitution and should be declared null and void and no effect; that the second, third and fourth defendants (Tony Momoh; Alhaji Sule Hamma; Mr Buba Galadima) elected at the convention were not validly elected and their said election be declared null and void, and that the second and fourth defendants be restrained from functioning and parading themselves as the National Chairman and National Secretary of the party.
On April 18, 2013, over 4,000 delegates at the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) convention officially approved the merger of various parties into APC.
The 4,000 plus delegates at the convention officially approved the merger of the party with three others (ANPP, APGA, CPC) to form the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The delegates also approved the retention of the broom symbol as the APC symbol at Thursday’s national convention at the Onikan Stadium in Lagos.
ALL PROGRESSIVES CONGRESS (APC) v INEC, ET AL. by Dr. S. Okechukwu Mezu
In the words of C. P. Scott of The Guardian [UK],”Comment is free, but facts are sacred.” The facts about the formation of the proposed merger of political parties in Nigeria “All Progressives Congress” are sacred and known to every Nigerian.
1) In an article entitled “APC: The battle is set,” Emmanuel Aziken, February 8, 2013 spoke about the unveiling of APC, “the special purpose vehicle with which the country’s major opposition parties hope to contest the political space with the dominant Peoples Democratic Party.” The parties in question are the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and a section of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA).
2) Thereafter, the APC was unveiled by Chief Tom Ikimi in a widely publicized press briefing on February 6, 2013 that captured the attention of the whole country. APC announced plans to formalize the merger with the Independent National Electoral Commission in accordance with Section 84 of the electoral act which stipulates guidelines for the merger of political parties:
“Any two or more registered political parties may merge on approval by the commission following a formal request presented to the commission by the political parties for that purpose.
“(2) Political Parties intending to merge shall each give to the Commission 90 days notice of their intention to do so before a general election.
“(3) The written request for merger shall be sent to the Chairman of the Commission and shall be signed jointly by the national chairman, secretary and treasurer for the time being of the different political parties proposing the merger and shall be accompanied by:-
(a) a special resolution passed by the national convention of each of the political parties proposing to merge, approving the merger;
(b) the proposed full name and acronym, constitution, manifesto, symbol or logo of the party together with the addresses of the national office of the party resulting from the merger; and
(c) evidence of payment of administrative costs of N100,000 or as may be fixed from time to time by an Act of the National Assembly.
“(4) On receipt of the request for merger of political parties, the commission shall consider the request; and if the parties have fulfilled the requirements of the constitution and this Act, approve the proposed merger and communicate its decision to the parties concerned before the expiration of thirty (30) days from the date of the receipt of the formal request.
“PROVIDED that if the commission fails to communicate its decision within 30 days the merger shall be deemed to be effective.
“(5) Where the request for the proposed merger is approved, the commission shall forthwith withdraw and cancel the certificates of registration of all the political parties opting for the merger and substitute therefore, a single certificate of registration in the name of the party resulting from the merger.
“(6) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (2) of this section no merger of Political Parties received by the commission less than 90 days before any general election in the country shall be considered by the commission.”
The signatories were Ikimi (ACN), ex-Governor Ibrahim Shekarau (Chairman, Merger Committee, ANPP), Senator Annie Okonkwo (representative of APGA) and ex-Deputy Governor Garba Mohammed Gadi (Chairman, Merger Committee of CPC).
Babatunde Fashola (Lagos), Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Rauf Aregbesola (Osun), Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun), Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo), Abdul-Aziz Yari (Zamfara), Kashim Shettima (Borno), Senator Dejare Alkali representing Ibrahim Gaidam (Yobe), Tanko al Makura (Nasarawa), and Rochas Okorocha (Imo).
3) Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, National Chairman of PDP, the governing party, took note of the proposed alliance and stated that PDP would not be rattled by its formation. Chief Olisa Metuh of the PDP called on the new party to engage the administration and the PDP on ideals and issues of governance.
4) The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) equally took note of the proposed merger of the parties to form APC stating that they could only transform into APC after fulfilling all the conditions in Section 84 of the Electoral Act including holding separate national conventions to ratify their decision to merge.
“As far as INEC is concerned, we have only noted the new aspiration of the four parties. We have not received any letter on the merger. The parties know what is involved in a merger. That is why they are yet to communicate INEC. One thing is clear, the Electoral Act gives room for merger of parties after all procedures have been complied with. It is left to the parties to take advantage of the law. So, the question of illegality does not arise yet. The final decision to approve the merger or not is solely that of INEC.” The Nation, Saturday, 9 February 2013.
From left: Chris Ngige, Kabiru Gaya; George Mughalu; CPC Merger committee chairman, Garba Gadi; Chairman Merger committee,Tom Ikimi; Chairman, ANPP Merger Committee, Ibrahim Shekarau; Segun Osaba and Ahmed Yerima during the unveiling of the new party name in Abuja. Courtesy Vanguardngr.com
5) On Tuesday, March 12, 2013, the nation woke up to hear that a new party African Peoples Congress, was in the process of filing its papers for registration as a political party in Nigeria with the same acronym APC already staked by All Progressives Congress.
6) If quoted correctly, Chief Olisa Agbakoba, SAN was not quite correct when he said “It is a bit disappointing that the new opposition party overlooked a very important issue of securing registration of its name. In any enterprise that you embark on, the first thing is to secure your trade name…. So INEC is not wrong to receive a name that sounds like that of APC and because you cannot have two APCs, the opposition will obviously have to look for a fresh name, unless, of course, the first party that registered is not going to pursue its registration.” INEC definitely is not wrong to receive “a name that sounds like that of APC” but INEC would be morally and legally wrong to “register” another party with the acronym “APC.” Here are the reasons.
7) There is statutory law (equitable, or civil) embodying legislative enactments and there is common law based on societal customs as recognized and enforced by judgments of the courts. Statutes, regulations and the common law prohibit any fraudulent, deceptive or dishonest trade practice. Unfair competition also prohibits the appropriation by a competitor of the economic and intellectual creations of, and the goodwill and reputation generated by, another business. Such unfair competition includes the infringement of copyrights, trademarks, patents, trade names and trade secrets.
8) All Progressives Congress by announcing the proposed formation of the merger, presenting its acronym, articulating its motto and purpose and publicly displaying its logo has created its identity and announced it to every Nigerian and to the world. The name is unique, the logo distinctive and non-generic. It has met all the conditions precedent to merit protection from infringement. Protection, legally is provided through registration of the trade name and registration of the trade mark. In the United States of America infringement claims may be brought at the federal level under the Lanham Trade Act (15 U.S.C.A. §§ 1051 et seq.) and at the state level additionally under common law doctrines and intellectual property statutes. Under common law, All Progressives Congress recognizable acronym and distinctive logo confer on it legal protection even absent any formal registration with the Corporate Affairs Commission or the Registrar of Trade Marks. As such any appropriation of the name, logo or trade mark constitutes theft even in the strictest construction of the word. All Progressives Congress is entitled to the exclusive use and enjoyment of the acronym (APC) and the logo as designed.
9) Copyright and patent laws generally give individuals and corporations exclusive rights to works, ideas, concepts they create especially as in the case of All Progressives Congress after days and months of planning and brainstorming by notable individuals spread across the country which included three major political parties and a faction of APGA, ten state Governors and representatives of the people on the state and federal levels. It is therefore tortious for any individual to use or appropriate the acronym “APC” or its likeness after it had been extensively advertized nationally by its creator All Progressives Congress. It is equivalent to impersonation, the appropriation or misappropriation of the name, acronym, image and likeness of an individual whether personal or corporate. Such impersonation is of course justiciable.
10) The case of Data Concepts, Inc. v. Digital Consulting, Inc. in the United States shows that trademark infringement is a mixed question of fact and law and the first for instance to register a trade name in contention may not be able to keep its use. In the USA, Brookfield Communications v. West Coast Entertainment Corp. shows that even “registration does not in itself constitute ‘use’ for purpose of acquiring trademark priority.” The determinant law of course is who has a prior or superior right to the mark or acronym. All Progressives Congress began using the acronym (APC) on February 6, 2013. All other claimants or pseudo-claimants (African Peoples Congress (APC) and All Patriotic Citizens (APC) or any other variant, born or unborn is a junior claimant to the acronym and cannot or should not displace All Progressives Congress as the prime and senior owner of the acronym having first publicized its ownership of the acronym and the pseudo-claimants, as well as INEC and other Nigerian publicly and openly had knowledge of that ownership through open disclosure to friend and foe of that fact.
11) Therefore any attempted use of that acronym (APC) by any competing organization constitutes an infringement in the same political market place called Nigeria. By common law, All Progressives Congress has the right to use the acronym “APC” conferred on it by priority of use and by implication the right to register it when it has met the required conditions with INEC. For instance, the Lanham Act in the United States determines who has priority rights in a mark from establishing who was the first to use it to identify his or her goods.
12) A logical inclination would be for All Progressives Congress to go to court and obtain an injunction restraining INEC from registering any party with the acronym “APC” because of the priority of its use and the superiority of its claim. What happens if the case becomes mired in the landmines of Nigerian courts from the High Court through the Appellate levels to the Supreme Court? All Progressives Congress should quietly follow the constitution, hold its convention and present its application for merger formally to Independent National Electoral Commission. INEC for once will do the right thing for the progress and enthronement of democracy in Nigeria. INEC is now facing the International High Court of Justice.
Dr. S. Okechukwu Mezu
Baltimore, Maryland USA
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