Sequel to the approval given by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, for it to operate as a political party, the Unity Party of Nigeria, UPN, has promised that it would no longer “be business as usual”, as it is set to stand out in Nigeria’s political space.
The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bari Adedeji Salau, in a statement posted on UPN’s website, noted that the journey towards getting registered was a long and tedious one.
Mr. Salau thanked all “Nigerian patriots” who had kept faith with the party.
“There has never been any occasion before now when an unregistered party has generated so much interest as that of the UPN”, he said.
The party also promised to make raise the bar, saying “with the UPN, it shall not be business as usual.
“We will always remember the sons and daughters with whom we are in the philosophy of serving the generality of Nigerian people.
“Ours is the pursuit of an egalitarian society, serving the greatest good of the greatest number.
“We owe it to the Nigerian people in all the states and the geographical zones to be fair to all in dispensation of justice”, it said.
According to the statement, the UPN shall hold the freedom of the press and individual sacrosanct.
“To us the independence of the judiciary is the cornerstone of the rule of law which is indispensable in a democratic society, we shall guide it jealously”, it said.
“We shall keep faith to the four cardinal programmes of the old UPN because of its comprehensiveness in addressing the core issues of the problem of this nation”.
The new party, in the statement, also extended its hands of fellowship to the other 25 political parties to elevate the country’s democratic practices.
It also commended INEC officials for their painstaking efforts in ensuring the party was registered.
Information Nigeria reports that UPN, which was the ruling party in the defunct Western region during the aborted second republic, was revived by leader of the Oodua Peoples Congress, OPC, Dr Frederick Fasehun in concert with some other persons of Yoruba extraction.