The Alliance for Patriotic Re-orientation and Construction (APRC)’s Deputy Spokesperson, Dodou Jah has just spoken to forGambia News and Radio,  clearing the fog around his statement regarding any political merger with the desperate Adama Barrow’s NPP. Jah was speaking to us in an impromptu exclusive, Monday.

“I told the reporter there is nothing as such [when he asked about an APRC-NPP alliance]. The problem I have is with the headline. The picture they put, some people will not read the content of the story. They see the pictures, if they don’t read the story, they might get it wrong.”

“Secondly, what they say the APRC confirms….you know, APRC is not confirming that we’re engaging NPP in coalition talks. That is not the case. I told the journalist yesterday that NPP has  approached some of our executive members, discussing with them a possible alliance.”

Not the executive [in its entirety] but members of the executive…the headline is misleading…Nothing is confirmed [ about the possible alliance],” Mr. Jah said, adding that the reporter was asking him about the conditions for a possible sync with Barrow’s NPP.

Jah said his answer was that such condition would have to include a massive cabinet reshuffle because those that are there right now don’t have the interest of Gambians. “We would not push any gov’t that isn’t there for the interest of Gambians because that would be like we in the APRC don’t want Gambia.”

Secondly, there was an agreement between former president Jammeh and Ecowas, UN, etc., but the Barrow gov’t never honored it. So he [Jah] can’t work with such a gov’t. If it was a different party, there wouldn’t be such terms and conditions, according to Jah.

He stated even the way the pictures sporting the newspaper article regarding his statements were placed in such a click-bait way where others might take it wrongly without reading it whole.

He said the NPP people didn’t officially approach the APRC executive for this possible merger. But they were the first to make an unofficial move about a possible alliance with the APRC. “They are the ones pushing this and they don’t want any other party, but the APRC. They want an APRC backing. For us, we don’t see any party, but Gambia.”

Mr. Jah clarified that no official talk was ever entered in to between his party and Adama Barrow’s. He said he was approached by some Barrow NPP supporters in the Dippa Kunda area about a possible alliance between Barrow and APRC. 

He said he told a reporter yesterday who posed a question to him about conditions for APRC’s possible alliance with NPP. He said the Barrow gov’t had failed in keeping his promises even with the international community regarding the seized assets of APRC or the return of Yahya Jammeh.

So, any agreement with the same Adama Barrow would have to come with terms and conditions. But the NPP did not officially approach the APRC for a merger. And the APRC never approached them for the same thing.

“It was some Dippa Kunda NPP supporters who approached me and asked me to go with them to the NPP bureau to meet Dou Sano, their mobilizer and Undaa Nyang, their chairman. “I told them for what? Me, my vision is that Barrow is going in 2021,” Jah stated, adding “They’re desperate to get APRC.”

Please follow the rest of the interview here on forgambia by clicking on our radio player button below Listen Here under ZENO.