Shehu Sani calls for creation of a working class party to challenge the APC and PDP

EMBATTLED Senator Shehu Sani representing the Kaduna Central Senatorial District has called for the creation of a third force in Nigerian politics pointing out that the mainstream All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic party (PDP) are no good.

Senator Sani, who has been under attack of late by the Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai over his criticism of President Muhammadu Buhari, has already advocated that the president stand down ahead of next year's elections. Yesterday, he maintained that neither the ruling APC of the main opposition has the capacity to resolve Nigeria's plethora of socio-economic woes.

According to Senator Sani, there is thus a need for the emergence of a new political party, peopled mainly by intellectuals, the working class and the youths, which will take Nigeria to the Promised Land. He added that this has become the only option for the country because none of the existing major political parties in the country could do the job.

Senator Sani, who is an APC member, said the integrity of President Buhari, around which the party built its government, was not enough to govern a plural country like Nigeria. He added that integrity is just a small fraction of what is needed to lead a country like Nigeria, stressing also that fighting corruption cannot be the only objective or the idea and only focus of a government.

Speaking as one of the guest speakers at a symposium organised by the Magodo Associates with the theme Nigeria: Which way forward?” held at the Afe Babalola Auditorium, University of Lagos, Senator Sani said that while President Buhari demonstrated his integrity by declaring his assets, many of the people in his government could not do the same. He charged Nigerians in the academia not be afraid of participating in politics, saying it was the only way forward.

 “What we have here is one man whose major asset is integrity but how many within that camp can also beat their chests and say they are as credible as he is? We are talking about building a nation and moving it forward but can just the integrity of the president move the nation to the Promised Land?

" We need a leader that can give every person the confidence that he is going to be fair and just and we also need a leader who is visionary, who can move the country from where it is to where it should be. The intellectuals need to move forward, you need not be scared of the political terrain," Senator Sani added.

He pointed out that most people in political offices say they are representing the people but they represent an individual, a certain power broker. According to senator Sani, there is a need for a progressive political class to come together, reach out to the academics, the intelligentsia and the working class who can come together with a party that is run on a certain ideology.

Another speaker, Dr. Amos Akingba, a chieftain of the National Democratic Coalition, added that the British colonialists were to blame for the country’s stunted development because at independence, they handed over the country to the Fulani, who were least interested in development. He said the Fulani were the ones the British gave Nigeria to as an estate and from independence, they rigged the election in favour of the caliphate.