Coalition partners in the All Progressives Congress, APC, took a bold step towards registration as a new party early Wednesday in Abuja when nine of the 11 governors in the group finally adopted a logo, a slogan, and a motto for the proposed party.
The adopted logo is the green-white-blue background with a broom on the white background. The logo however has a red base.
The group also adopted “Justice, Peace and Unity” as its motto, and settled for “Change” as its slogan.
“Our choice of the slogan “change” is based on the believe that it will resonate widely and help galvanise citizens currently dissatisfied with the lack of progress in all facets of our nation’s life under [president] Jonathan’s dispensation” said a reliable insider to the various meetings who sought to retain his anonymity. “we are close to registration you can see” he added.
The governors arrived at their choice after meeting with the technical committees set up to fashion out identity symbols for the group at the residence of Mr. Tom Ikimi, chairman of the merger committee, and one-time foreign minister, in the Maitama District of the Federal Capital Territory in Abuja.
Premium Times had reported Tuesday that the proposed party planned to retain the broom on the white background as its logo, expressing the influence of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), one of the partners to the alliance.
The proposed party however defined its unique identity from the ACN by rendering its colours in vertical rather than horizontal bars, and by replacing the black horizontal base of the ACN with red.
The ACN logo, unlike the APC logo had no red frames, however the broom on the white background, according to insiders at the meeting, was a concession to the view that the broom is generally more acceptable and impactful than ANPP’s maize and CPC’s pen.
The substitution of the word “unity” in the motto is also a shift from the ACN’s motto of Justice, Peace, and Prosperity.
At the Wednesday morning meeting to adopt the identity symbols for the proposed party, Mr. Bola Tinubu, a patriarch of the ACN, who returned to Nigeria early Tuesday after an overseas trip, joined the nine governors in reaching the decision.
Mr. Tinubu habours a perennial presidential ambition and is billed to launch a book he co-authored on economic and financial policy titled Finacialism in Lagos on Thursday, 7th March.
The identity symbols will be presented to a Joint Inter-Party Merger Committee later on Wednesday for ratification, along with the reports of the committees set up to decide on a manifesto and a constitution.
The work of the three committees is part of the group’s preparation to seek registration from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), early last month, announced their plan to merge into a single party to be known as APC.
Early in the life of the Manifesto Committee, which was tasked to draw up the motto, slogan and message, there were initial disagreements over the inclusion of APGA’s symbol following the insistence by a faction of the party that it was not part of the merger deal.
Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, led some members of the party to the merger, which a faction loyal to his Anambra State counterpart, Peter Obi, denounced.
The Manifesto Committee has reportedly recommended that the party move towards the left as its philosophical and ideological content.
The committee has recommended free education, public sector investment and internal democracy as part of its manifesto of the proposed party.
