National Secretary of the Labour Party (LP), Umar Farouk, and Tai Obasi, media aide to the LP flag bearer, Mr. Peter Obi have denied knowledge of any ongoing merger arrangement with the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar and his counterpart in the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso.
The development is coming in the wake of media reports that the trio of Atiku, Kwankwaso and Obi have opened a preliminary discussion on a possible merger with the ultimate goal of setting up a formidable platform that can unseat the ruling party, according to Punch.
In his reaction to the merger rumour, Mr. Farouk told Punch that there was no iota of truth in the report.
Mr. Farouk disclosed that much as the party respects the privacy of its presidential candidate to associate with anybody, he vowed that Labour Party will never merge with any other political platform.
The LP national secretary, however, did not rule out the possibility of an alliance.
The rumour about merger may be a ploy by the APC to put it in the psyche of Nigerians, to believe that the three opposition parties, especially the PDP and LP that have election petitions at the tribunal, have given up in the 2023 presidential election result and have started preparing for 2027.