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Ita-Giwa, Senator differ on APC merger

By MUDIAGA AFFE 

Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other financial matters, Senator Bassey Otu on Saturday disagreed with a former presidential aide, Senator Florence Ita-Giwa, on the strength of the newly formed All Progressive Congress.

While Otu said the  merger would soon crumble, Ita-Giwa argued that it would bring about stiff competition that would make the ruling Peoples Democratic Party be alive to their responsibilities in governance.

The views were expressed as a member of the APC merger committee, Chief Okoi Obono-Obla, said three committees currently working on the party’s constitution, manifesto and legal framework would further strengthen the merger.

Senators Bassey Otu and Florence Ita-Giwa

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They all spoke on Saturday after the burial of Justice ET Ndoma-Egba, father of the Senate Leader, Chief Victor Ndoma-Egba, which took place at Akparabong in Ikom Local Government Area of Cross River State.

Otu, who represents Cross River South Senatorial District in the National Assembly, said PDP was not afraid of the new opposition group, stressing that the people that formed the new merger were strange birds who do not have political ideology.

The senator said, “For me, the PDP is not afraid of the so called APC because these are strange fellows coming together. So, you can see a bomb that will soon explode.”

“They have failed on arrival, and this is not the first time. We are not afraid of them.”

Otu described the newly formed APC as ‘Armoured Personnel Carrier’ that would soon explode.

“They are called Armoured Personnel Carrier, and for me, it is actually a tablet that has been put out of use long time ago, let us see if they can put it into use,” he added.

But to Ita-Giwa, the coming together of the opposition parties to form the merger was a welcomed development in the Nigeria democracy.

When asked if this move could dislodge the PDP in the 2015 general elections, she said any opposition could challenge the PDP, but was quick to add that the umbrella of the ruling party was not shaking.

She said. “I think it will strengthen the democracy because there will be competition and the ruling party will face its challenge better, knowing that there is a strong opposition.”