Besides registered political parties, some like-minds have come up with the Nigeria Intervention Movement (NIM) to wrest power from both the APC and the PDP.
Handlers of the movement said they were not partisans but out to change the old narrative of deception that laced the two dominant parties in the country.
The movement has former Cross River State governor, Donald Duke, former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Charles Soludo, former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Olisa Agbakoba, and Prof. Pat Utomi.
The group said 2019 was the time to rescue Nigeria. It is not clear how they would succeed since the movement has not been registered as a political party yet and the Nigerian constitution does not give room for independent candidature.
A former Minister of Education, Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili, is also a member of the group. Others are former Minister of Information, Frank Nweke Jnr, Col. Abubakar Umar (retd), Ayo Obe, Rabiu Ishyaku Rabiu, former presidential adviser, Akin Osuntokun, among others.
A recent statement from the NIM secretariat in Abuja described the group as a pro-democracy movement and pressure group of like-minded Nigerians who are committed to changing the political order which has failed to fashion a Nigeria that works for all.
“The NIM is concerned that the political elite, since independence, and particularly since the exit of the military from visible power in 1999, has proved that it is ill-equipped and unprepared for the challenge of transforming our nation from its underdeveloped status to one that is prosperous and can create a veritable environment for the realisation of its citizens’ potentials and wellbeing.
According to the statement, “It is clear that the political elite, as currently represented by the two dominant political parties, the PDP and APC, among others, have failed Nigerians, for lack of clear ideology and principle on how to run the country.”