OKOI OBONO-OBLA
I did not come to the unveiling of the APC’s 2027–2031 manifesto, From Reforms to Prosperity, as a spectator. I came as one of those who sat in the rooms in 2013 where the All Progressives Congress was negotiated into existence.
We did not gather merely to win an election. We gathered to answer a historic question: could Nigeria finally have a broad-based, national, progressive party that would be a microcosm of the diversity of Nigeria itself, and forge national development anchored on social democracy, inclusivity, progressive ideals, national unity and the rule of law?
That was the dream. On November 10, 2026, in Abuja, I saw that dream restated, in measurable terms.
We did not merge parties. We merged hopes.
In 2013, the coming together of the Action Congress of Nigeria, the Congress for Progressive Change, the All Nigeria Peoples Party, a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, and a faction of the defunct Democratic Peoples Party was not a marriage of convenience. It was a conscious act of political engineering.
The merger negotiations ran from February 2013 to 31st July 2013, when INEC registered the APC. The New PDP was never one of the parties that negotiated that merger.
We wanted to end a politics where power was inherited by one party, where opposition was regional, and where the Nigerian voter had no real alternative. We wanted a party that would look like Nigeria in its leadership, speak like Nigeria in its language, and govern like Nigeria deserves in its policies.
That is why the founding vision was never about the North or the South, Christian or Muslim, majority or minority. It was about building a national platform where a child from Cross River and a child from Sokoto could believe the same promise, and hold the same government to account.
It was only later, in May 2014, that members of the New PDP defected from the PDP to join the APC, further broadening the national coalition we had already built.
Behind that merger stood the Joint Inter Party Committee, the engine room of the negotiations. I pay tribute to all members of that Committee, those still with us and those who have paid the supreme price. Their patience, their compromises, their late nights and their quiet sacrifices made the APC possible.
The founding fathers kept faith
I pay glowing tribute to the founding fathers who carried that vision, some of whom are no longer with us, but whose fingerprints remain on every page of our history.
To President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, whose political courage, strategic patience and belief in a progressive Nigeria made the merger possible, and whose presidency now carries the burden of translating that vision into governance.
To late President Muhammadu Buhari, whose integrity, discipline and national stature gave the new party moral authority and whose leadership proved that an opposition party could defeat an incumbent, peacefully and democratically.
To late Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, a gentleman of uncommon intellect and humility, who believed that science, innovation and character must drive national development, and who chaired our merger with fairness and foresight.
To Prince Tony Momoh, a journalist, a democrat and a bridge-builder, whose voice of reason steadied many difficult negotiations and reminded us that politics must serve the people, not consume them.
To Senator Garba Gadi, and to all the other patriots, negotiators, governors, legislators, party officials and unsung foot soldiers whose names may not be in the headlines but whose sacrifices are in the foundation of this party.
To Professor Tamuno David West, renowned consultant virologist, social critic, senior academic and former Minister, whose intellect, courage and moral clarity enriched the progressive cause and reminded us that politics without ideas is empty.
To Professor Bugoja, mathematician, senior academic and patriot, whose scholarship and principled commitment to the progressive ideals helped give intellectual depth to the movement that became the APC.
We honour them not with flowers alone, but with fidelity to what they stood for.
From Reform to Prosperity is not a new dream. It is the old dream, grown up.
When I read the 2027–2031 manifesto, I did not see a document invented for an election. I saw the logical continuation of the 2013 covenant.
First, a Secure and Resilient Nation. The founding fathers understood that no nation can prosper if its citizens sleep in fear. The manifesto’s commitment to 78,000 additional security personnel, 50,000 police and 28,000 military, the completion of four new Army divisions, and a constitutional framework for state and community policing, is the security expression of national unity: every Nigerian, in every state, deserves protection.
Second, a Better Quality and More Affordable Life for Every Nigerian. This is social democracy in action. A progressive party is judged not by how rich its elites become, but by how affordable food, housing, education and healthcare become for the ordinary citizen. The promise to halve post-harvest losses, build 200,000 affordable homes, halve out-of-school children, recruit 20,000 teachers, and expand health insurance from over 23 million enrollees to 40% of Nigerians is not charity. It is justice.
Third, Energy, Infrastructure and Economic Growth. Our founding vision was never about sharing poverty. It was about creating wealth. The target of 6% annual growth, power generation towards 10,000MW, 7 million additional meters, and credit reaching half of all economically active Nigerians speaks to a party that believes in enterprise, industry and the dignity of work.
Fourth, Effective and Accountable Governance. This may be the most faithful to 2013. We formed APC to be different, not just in power, but in conduct. A manifesto that promises a baseline, target, cost, responsible official and reporting date for every commitment, that promises to publish allocations to all 774 local governments, and that declares, “A manifesto is only as strong as the promises a citizen can check,” is a manifesto that respects the rule of law and the sovereignty of the voter.
We knew reform would hurt
Let us be honest, as we were honest in 2013. Reform was never going to be painless.
When President Tinubu removed the petrol subsidy, unified the foreign exchange market and embarked on tax reform, he was doing what the founding fathers knew would one day be necessary: confronting long-standing economic realities head-on, rather than postponing them for the next generation to inherit.
The Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, said it well at the unveiling: a manifesto is an inviolable contract. And a leader thinks about the next generation, not just the next election.
That is the spirit of APC.
The test ahead
But tribute is not enough. Nostalgia is not enough.
The founding fathers did not negotiate APC into existence so that we could celebrate anniversaries. They did it so that Nigeria could be governed differently.
The test of From Reforms to Prosperity will not be in its launch, but in its delivery. Will food truly become cheaper? Will power truly become more reliable? Will our children truly return to school? Will our security forces truly respond when called? Will citizens truly be able to check the promises and hold us to them?
If we deliver, history will say the class of 2013 was right. If we fail, history will be unforgiving, and rightly so.
I remain convinced that we were right. I remain convinced that the APC, if it stays true to its founding ideals of social democracy, inclusivity, progressive ideals, national unity and the rule of law, remains the best vehicle for the Nigerian project.
In 2013, we signed a merger. In 2027, we must sign a new covenant with the Nigerian people: that reforms will become prosperity, and prosperity will reach every home.
That is the dream we had. That is the promise we must keep.