A previous presidential candidate and one of Nigeria’s foremost professors of political economic situation and administration, Pat Utomi, has signed up with the opposition Action Congress of Nigeria.
Mr. Utomi, that contested the 2007 presidential election on the system of the oblivious African Democratic Party, announced his change of party in a statement posted on his Facebook web page on Sunday night.
He said “It has been pointed out to me that many Nigerians who have supported the work I have done in politics and community service are unaware of the fact that I’m now a member of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN),” the statement said. “I have been a member for more than a year.”
He said he decided to join the ACN, which is the dominant political platform in Nigeria’s South-West geopolitical zone and a part of the South-South, “because the progressive opposition in Nigeria has been unable to bring itself under one umbrella though many, myself included, have tried to bring this about by encouraging the subsuming of ego for the common progressive good.”
He continued, “This has proven very difficult and progressives cannot afford to dissipate their energies in various small armies while the enemies of the progressive struggle are disciplined enough to coalesce under the conservative/retrogressive Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
“I would therefore encourage all opposition parties to join the ACN. As far as I’m concerned, Nigeria should run a PDP-ACN political party structure.”