2023: Group to set up party for alternative politics

The Alternative Political Summit (T-PAPS), a coalition of pressure groups, on Wednesday said it would set up an alternative political party for revolutionary participation in the electoral process.

The Secretary, Central Organising Committee of the group, Mr Jaye Gaskia, said this at a news conference in Abuja.

Gaskiya explained that T-PAPS was being convened by left-led learning initiative, labour movement and citizens organisations in Nigeria.

He said that the mobilisation effort was on-going and progressive Nigerians, working-class and organisations could be part of the process.

“Since the independence of 1960, our country has been enmeshed in various forms of deep and endemic crises, oftentimes posing a grave existential threat to the nation and her people.

“These crises often presented as combined political, economic, socio-cultural and ecological in nature and character have been the manifest hallmarks of the decades of crass failure of rulership overtime.

“The dysfunctional failure of governance overtime has resulted in treasury looting and light-fingered ruling class have superintended.

“This process of intensification of the unconscious and inhumane exploitation, repression, oppression and impoverish of the working classes and peoples of Nigeria have only intensified since the 1999 return to civil rule,’’ he said.

Gaskia said that historically, working-class people and their allies had played significant roles through their various and collective struggles in the evolution of the Nigerian nation and in resisting the anti-people policies of the ruling class.

According to him, the struggle of the organised working people is central to the attainment of independence, to the termination of military rule and to the ongoing struggles to deepen democratic participation and consolidation.

He said that what had been missing over the past years was a clear cut cohesive and abroad left alternative political programme and platform to engage and challenge for power.

Gaskia said that was why it was incumbent upon Nigerians to take their destiny into their hands and to take up the task of organizing to take power in order to use that political power to achieve their goal.

He said that the goal was the radical transformation of the society in the interest of the working classes and the toiling masses.

“It is now more than ever incumbent on us to organise as broadly as possible radical left-led revolutionary and working-class politics, including revolutionary participation in electoral politics.

“This is to ensure that we intervene politically in the day-today routine struggles of our people.’’

Gaskia said that it was within this context that the group was convening a summit with the theme“A New Nigeria is Possible’’ to hold from March 25 to March 28 with the registration at https://thepeoplesummit.org .

He said that the join convening of T-PAPS would discuss the current situation of the country and agree on a common political programme for intervention.

He said that the alternative political initiative would deliberately exclude all the hegemonic political .economic and socio-cultural organisations of the ruling class and its multifarious factions.