A Labour Party chieftain, Victor Umeh, has disclosed that the merger talks between his party and the New Nigeria Peoples Party have been discontinued.
Umeh stated this on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme monitored by Premium Politics on Tuesday.
Our correspondent had earlier reported that NNPP presidential candidate, Rabiu Kwankwaso, said merger talks were ongoing between his party and Labour Party. However, on Sunday, the former Kano State governor said he can’t be the running mate of Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
“I believe it is in the interest of Labour Party and the NNPP, and even in the interest of this country … because LP, as it stands today, certainly cannot win election. Yes! It cannot win elections.
“Because mainly, the support is mainly in a particular zone and not spread, and the figures there cannot earn anybody a presidential seat in this country,” Kwankwaso said, urging Obi to be his running mate.
Speaking on Tuesday, Umeh, while addressing the issue, explained that the merger talks between both parties broke down when they could not arrive at a consensus.
He said, “We are surprised at the various statements by members of the NNPP which suggest that they are still negotiating with us.
“We had this discussion on the 15th of June and what caused the meeting was the move to synergize with each other, Doyin Okupe and I were at the meeting on behalf of the Party.
“After long hours of discussion, it became obvious that it was a meeting between a deaf and a dumb, we had to stop it.”
