Kola Abiola, the eldest son of late MKO Abiola, the acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, has joined partisan politics after 27 years of persuasion.
Abiola used to be a member of the Social Democratic Party, SDP but quit in the mid-ninetees when his father was imprisoned.
He was formally accepted into the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) on Thursday in an emotionally charged event, at its National Secretariat, Abuja by Mr Falalu Bello, the National Chairman of the party.
His formal introduction to the party brought back memories of MKO Abiola whom Nigerians from all walks of life and ethnic groups feel entitled to his legacy, as he belonged to everyone.
The chairman, Bello said: “I formally welcome you into our fold. Your antecedents speak volumes.”
Abiola, in an emotion-laden statement, revealed earlier that : “Today makes my formal inroad after, 27 years, back into politics.
“I particularly picked to come back into politics through the PRP for some good reasons.
“I have gone back to the history of Nigeria to look at the party that truly represents Nigeria.
“I have gone back and I have found out that the oldest living party is the PRP; it still holds those ideals of what Nigeria and democratic practice should be like.”
According to him, PRP is a people-centric party that was started by the people. He argued that at the core of the party is internal democracy.
“I have come back to PRP to show Nigerians that not too long ago, we did things in the right way and the new entities that have come together nowadays forget that there was Nigeria that did things right.
“I am one that believes in an equal opportunity be it employment, be it business, equally in politics and I believe this party represents all of these.
“Everybody should have equal opportunity, irrespective of age, religion and ethnicity and that is represented here,” Abiola said.
Expressing his deep worry over the low participation of young people in politics, he said: “We have a youth population that has been caught out of the system, the political process.
“The first thing I want to do is to disrupt the political process, to disabuse the minds of the youth on godfatherism.
“The way to do this is to give the true owners of Nigeria, that is, the 18 to 36 years age group that makes up over 75 per cent of the population, an opportunity for their voices to be heard and their numbers to count.”
He posited that PRP is the only party that can give youths such opportunity to make their mark in politics.
Sources have revealed that Abiola is being urged to throw his hat in the ring for for a top job. It is not yet known if he would vie for any position in 2023 as it is still early days. But whatever happens in the future, NEWSWATCHplus will keep you posted.
