We are confident of INEC registration, ANN assures members*Preaches peaceful national co-existence
A new political association fast gaining ground among professionals and technocrats, the Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN), has assured its teeming members that it is confident of scaling the INEC registration hurdle. The assurance is coming against the backdrop of a section of its members who were said to be wondering why the association was not among the new five political parties the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) registered last week.
The national coordinator of the group, Dr. Jay Osi Samuels, in a chat with newsmen, said there was no cause for alarm as the association is on the verge of meeting all the necessary requirements needed to be registered as a political party.
He said the newly registered five political parties had been on their own registration process since last year; hence the reason they were the first batch to be announced by INEC as registered political parties.
“Our members have nothing to worry about,” Dr. Samuels assured, stating: “We are confident of being registered as a political party. Our name, acronym and slogan have been approved and these are major steps towards being registered.
“Those who have just been registered have been on it since last year. That was why they were first to be registered by INEC this year. Therefore, our name will soon be announced as a registered political party after all the necessary documentation has been concluded.”
Dr. Samuels, a Harvard-trained medical doctor, added that INEC is under statutory obligation to register any association or group that meets the criteria of being registered as a political party. He, therefore, advised members to remain calm and continue to spread the message of “technoticianism,” which is the ideology of the group.
Meanwhile, the group has called for peaceful coexistence among the nation’s ethnic groups. Reacting to a recent ultimatum given by some Arewa youth groups to Igbos to leave the northern part of the country, Dr. Samuels said while the ANN understands the ethnic emotions that often rule the country, war mongering and mutual suspicions amongst the nation’s ethnic groups remain ill-winds that will blow no one any good.
He said the party’s aim remains rallying professionals and technocrats in the country to join the political process and this is not limited to any particular region or tribe but all inclusive either such professional or technocrat is in Kano, Ibadan or Enugu. And as a result of that, there was no way the group would identify with any move to stoke ethnic tension in the country.
