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A new political group, National Intervention Movement, was launched in Abuja on Tuesday. Behind the group are former Cross River State governor, Donald Duke; renowned economisit, Prof. Pat Utomi; prominient lawyer, Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), labour activist, Isah Aremu, among others.
Agbakoba was named as leader of the new movement “which seeks to galvanise Nigerians towards building a national political consensus to rescue the nation from total collapse will be different from the 2014 confab which he took active part in.”
The PUNCH quotes Agbakoba as saying that the 2014 National Conference was aimed at furthering President Goodluck Jonathan’s political agenda just the way the conferences under Ibrahim Babangida, Sani Abacha and Olusegun Obasanjo, were also tailored to suit the intersts of the former heads of states during their time.
He said: “It is now clear that the 2014 confab was meant to serve President Jonathan’s political interest.
“The difference between what we are doing today and what IBB did in his confab, what Abacha did in his confab what OBJ did in his own confab and what President Jonathan did in his own confab is that, they had their own political agenda.
“So, if we start from saying that Nigeria is a failing or failed state we have about 180 million people who do not take part in the political discuss.
“If we can get this political movement and get these people to make a political choice, that will be the difference.”
Also speaking at the event, a labour activist, Isa Aremu, explained that it was sad that Nigeria had suffered the misfortune of having individuals who cared less about the people they were supposed to be serving at the helm of affairs.
Earlier, the Director General of the group who is also the convener of the Political Summit Group, Mr. Olawale Okuniyi, had said the group’s deliberations centered on Nigeria’s problem as a nation.
He said, “We deliberated on reviewing the problem of Nigeria which is more political than economic. We decided it is better to find a collective solution to the problem that we should initiate a national political movement.
“We decided to set up a National Intervention Movement we are to merge with all other formations to find this solution.”
He subsequently announced the setting up of the steering committee which has Agbakoba as leader. Other members include: Duke, Utomi, Aremu, Dr. Kemi George, Dr. Abduljalil Tafawa Balewa, Rabiu Isaiku Rabiu and Senator Abubakar Gada.