Udora Orizu in Abuja
The Forum of Nigerian Political Parties Chairmen has disowned a statement credited to the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) and allied civil society groups under the umbrella of Coalition of National Civil Society Organisations (CNCSOs), that they have concluded plans to occupy the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) headquarters, Abuja until the CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele resigns or denounces his purported presidential ambition.
CNPP and the CSOs had in a joint statement issued in Abuja, Thursday by the Secretary General of CNPP, Chief Willy Ezugwu noted that their “action has become necessary to save the Nigerian economy from total collapse.”
But the political party chairmen, in a statement in Abuja on Friday, dissociated themselves from the position of the CNPP and CNCSOs, describing those who issued the statement as impostors. According to the statement, issued by the forum’s Chairman and National Chairman of Action Alliance party, Kenneth Udeze, they said CNPP can no longer talk for political parties as it had since been disbanded and replaced with the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC).
They therefore urged security agencies to rise to their responsibility of protecting lives and property around public buildings, including the CBN headquarters. The statement read, “We have read with dismay the statement credited to the CNPP that it will, alongside, some faceless groups, attack the CBN headquarters to force the Governor to resign and stop the activities of the support groups that have been asking him to contest the 2023 presidential election. Let us state clearly that the Nigerian registered political parties are not and can never be part of any plan to attack any government offices, including the CBN headquarters. This is clearly a move to truncate the peace being experienced in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and we hope that the security agencies would have taken proper note of this. “It is important to also make it very clear that the CNPP does not speak for registered political parties in Nigeria. Based on this, we also announce that one Willy Ezendu who signed the statement had been sacked as CNPP secretary even before the group was disbanded. Ezendu is not an official of any of the 18 registered political parties and so, he cannot speak for them. We therefore call on members of the public to be careful with the statement coming from this impostor and his cohorts just to feather the nest of their personal agenda. In the event of any breakdown of law and order in the FCT and its environs, we are sure our security agencies know those to hold responsible.”
