Action Congress of Nigeria

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Action Congress of Nigeria
ChairmanAdebisi Akande
Secretary-GeneralLawali Shuaibu
Founded2006
Dissolved2013
Merger ofFaction of Alliance for Democracy
Justice Party
Advance Congress of Democrats
Merged intoAll Progressives Congress
Headquarters16 Bissau Street, Wuse, Zone 6, Abuja
IdeologyConservative liberalism
Pan-Africanism
Political positionCentre-right
ColoursGreen, black, white
Party flag
Website
actioncongressnigeria.org

The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), formerly known as Action Congress (AC),

Kogi, Ondo, Bauchi, Plateau, Niger, Adamawa, Oyo and Osun
states by far accounts for majority of the party's presence and discernible power base.

In February 2013 the party merged with the Congress for Progressive Change, the All Nigeria Peoples Party, and the All Progressives Grand Alliance to form the All Progressives Congress.[2]

2006

The party was formed in 2006 in order to form a larger political opposition to the federally dominant centrist

People's Democratic Party and the Northern-based All Nigeria Peoples Party. On May 12, 2006, the provisional officers of the party (most of whom carried their seats from the Alliance for Democracy) were replaced at the Kaduna convention by ballot; Bisi Akande succeeded Hassan M. Zurmi as National Chairman, and Bashir Dalhatu replaced Bumi Omoseyindemi as National Secretary.[3]

2007

The party ran

Third Republica. Tinubu is noted for his astute Pro-Democracy credentials and progressive Federalist Principles that saw him clash severally with former President Olusegun Obasanjo of the more conservative unitarian school of thought.[citation needed
]

In the 21 April 2007

Senate.[5]

Following the victory of PDP candidate

Umaru Yar'Adua in the 2007 presidential election, the AC has been pursuing a legal challenge to the results. On July 6, 2007, the party announced its rejection of an offer to join Yar'Adua's government (an offer that was accepted by the ANPP and the Progressive Peoples Alliance), with a spokesman saying that "there is no compelling moral, legal or political reason for us to join a government that we have told the whole world stole its mandate" and that participating in the government would mean "partaking in stolen goods".[6]

However, on August 7, 2007, the National Secretary, Bashir Dalhatu, resigned (along with two other officials) over the refusal of the Action Congress to take up Yar'adua's offer. He was replaced by the current Secretary, Usman Bugaje.[7]

2008–2009

Most of the Party's success came in 2008 via judicial challenges to the widely maligned

Appeals Court ordering rerun. Heading into this rerun, AC had an over 12 000 votes advantage. The Acting Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly (legislature) was an AC member.[9]

AC Governorship candidates had cases pending in

Mimiko and the Action Congress under the perceived leadership of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.[citation needed
]

2010

The Action Congress changed their name to the Action Congress of Nigeria.[10] The March 2010 rerun of the Ekiti Guber polls resulted in PDP Candidate and Ex-Governor, Engineer Oni being returned as winner despite widespread allegations of voter intimidation, rigging and pressures on INEC officials to release the falsified result to favor the ruling party (PDP). AC Candidate proceeded to challenge these results at the Elections Tribunal, where he lost 3–2. Pinning his appeal on the minority judgement, he sought to be installed as Governor based on the cancellation of results from two local governments where PDP allegedly perpetrated fraud and violence. A ruling from the Appeal Court (the final adjudicator of governor elections disputes) on September 14, 2010, eventually returned Dr. Fayemi of Action Congress as the 3rd Executive Governor of Ekiti State after three and a half years of protracted court battles and occupancy by the usurper PDP government in the state.[11]

On November 26, 2010, the AC Candidate in Osun State, Engr. Aregbesola was declared the duly elected governor of Osun State by the Court of Appeals sitting in Ibadan. This brings the number of AC seats recovered via the judicial process to four out of five states virtually controlled. Only one of those seats, was up for contest in the 2011 cycle i.e. Lagos State. In December 2010, the Action Congress of Nigeria conducted its National Convention in

Bisi Akande as the National Chairman and Senator Lawal Shuaibu replacing Dr Usman Bugaje as the National Secretary.[12]

2011

AC has no governors in Nigeria today[clarification needed]. The Labor Party Governor in Ondo State has been closely allied with the party.

The Action Congress of Nigeria has two major presidential aspirants contesting for the party ticket: The former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Nuhu Ribadu, and former governor of Sokoto State, Attahiru Bafarawa.[13]

2013

In July 2013, the party officially merged with the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and members from the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), among others, to form the All Progressives Congress.[14]

See also

References

  1. ^ Nigeria`s opposition party holds convention, changes name Archived January 2, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Maram, Mazen (7 February 2013). "Nigerian Biggest Opposition Parties Agree to Merge". Bloomberg. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  3. ^ "Interrogating The Bisi Akande Phenomenon". guardian.ng. 22 September 2019. Retrieved 2020-05-29.
  4. ^ "Nigerian VP 'able to stand in poll'" Archived 2007-04-21 at the Wayback Machine, Al Jazeera, April 16, 2007.
  5. ISBN 978-1-59797-541-4
    .
  6. ^ "Opposition party says no to Umaru Yar'Adua", Reuters (IOL), July 6, 2007.
  7. ^ "Action Congress of Nigeria is on the march, says Usman Bugaje". Vanguard News. 2010-12-04. Retrieved 2020-05-29.
  8. ^ "Nigeria: Presidential Election Marred by Fraud, Violence". Human Rights Watch. 2007-04-25. Retrieved 2020-05-29.
  9. ISSN 2227-5452
    .
  10. ISBN 978-1-942876-11-3
    .
  11. ^ "Dr. Fayemi returned as Ekiti State Governor". Archived from the original on October 19, 2010.
  12. ^ "Sunday 24th July 2016". Issuu. Retrieved 2020-05-29.
  13. ^ "I'll emerge president, says Ribadu – The Nation Newspaper".
  14. ^ "Nigeria opposition parties merge". BBC News. 2013-02-07. Retrieved 2020-05-29.
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