Battle to unseat APC thickens as Kwankwaso, others float political movement

The battle to remove the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) from power has taken another dimension as some top politicians have floated a new movement called National Movement (TNM).

This is just as members of the political movement have  berated President Muhammadu Buhari and the party for failing to deliver campaign promises to Nigerians.

Solomon Dalung, who served as Minister of Sports and Youth Development between 2015 and 2019, under Mr Buhari’s first tenure, said this in Abuja on Tuesday as people from diverse political leanings attended the official launch of the National Movement (TNM).

Conceived in 2021, the movement is to serve as a melting pot for Nigerians desirous of working together collectively “to redeem the nation from what they believed to be the lack of capacity of the current administration”.

Former Governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso, who is the convener, said the formation of Third Force was borne out of the need to reposition the country from the grip of politicians who do not see beyond election.

He lamented ills bedeviling the nation and ascribed the goal of the movement to the need for a united Nigeria before any political interest.

“For us, we see ourselves not just as politicians, even though we are. Rather, we saw ourselves as leaders; we saw ourselves as patriots; we saw ourselves as nationalists; we saw ourselves as democrats; and we saw ourselves as major actors and factors in the evolution and future of Nigeria.

“We were therefore convinced that there must be a Nigeria first before politics and democracy can be nurtured and there must be Nigerian people alive and living largely harmoniously with each other before elections can take place.

“While most of us would want to contest and win elections, we resolved that we must do everything possible within our abilities,” he said.