By Tony Edike
ENUGU—NATIONAL Chairman of Progressive Peoples Alliance, PPA, Chief Sam Nkire, has called on all those who left the party in the last six months to return without conditions or penalties even as he promised a level playing ground for all aspirants wishing to contest this year’s election on the party’s ticket.

Speaking in an interview with Vanguard, Nkire reiterated that PPA was one of the few political parties in Nigeria where one could “join today and become governor tomorrow.”

He said that PPA was offering automatic waiver to people from other parties “how much more members coming back to their original home.”

The PPA boss urged member participating in the current congresses and primaries to conduct themselves peacefully as PPA was home for progressives and not trouble makers.

Nkire was optimistic that PPA would bounce back as No. 3 political party in Nigeria in the forthcoming general elections but warned his members to shun money and vote their conscience for progress and development.

He promised all aspirants in the on-going party primaries and screening exercise a level-playing ground as well as fair hearing in the interest of justice.

Nkire noted that PPA was determined to learn from the mistakes of the other political parties in order to show good example for others to emulate.

He expressed worries over the spate of violence and crises trailing the ward congresses, primaries and screening of candidates in many political parties in the country and wondered how the coming elections would be free and fair.

“It appears politicians haven’t learnt any lesson after so many years of bad government which has root in imposition of candidates by the party establishment,” he said.

Nkire lamented that near absence of internal democracy in many political parties which has made it difficult to produce candidates for political offices and therefore advocated zoning and consensus as a way out of the political logjam.