As the 2023 general elections draw near, prominent Nigerians have established a third force, Rescue Nigeria Project (RNP), to give Nigerians an alternative platform to the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
National Infinity reports that founders of RNP include former Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega; political economist, Prof. Pat Utomi, who was a former Special Adviser to ex-President Shehu Shagari; former Governor of Kwara State, Ahmed Abdulfatai; and former Governor of Cross River State and one time Presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party, Donald Duke.
Others include a one time Minister of Education and former Peoples’ Democratic Party National Chairman aspirant, Prof. Tunde Adeniran, Senator Lee Maeba, Usman Bugaje, Amb. Nkoyo Toyo, Yomi Awoniyi, Dr. Rose Idi Danladi and Dr. Sadiq Gombe.
At a meeting of the group, Abdulfatai Ahmed, while delivering a keynote address, lamented the state of the nation, noting that the high level of nepotism and lack of inclusiveness gave rise to agitations from different ethnic groups.
He recalled that in 2015, Nigerians embraced change, adding that “today, that change appears to be what we didn’t expect, as insecurity has taken over the nation.
“It is based on this that we decided to set up this RNP. We want to salvage this country and see how we can fix the mess. We want to set a template and key criteria that leaders must have before they can attain any political position.” On his part, Adeniran said he foresaw disaster, hence the move to rescue the nation.
He said: “You only rescue when there is a disaster, and when you fail to rescue during a disaster, it is more dangerous. We have a disaster in our hands and we need to rescue the country. We need to look back and see how we get here. We know where Nigeria was before now. We know the task is not going to be easy, but we have to determine how to rescue the nation.”
In his opening remarks, the RNP national coordinator, Usman Bugaje, explained that the RNP was founded on the premise that the challenges bedevilling the country were largely derived from poor leadership.
