Following the report that the vice president, Namadi Sambo on Monday approached former Borno State governor and chairman of Board of Trustee (BoT) of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Ali Modu Sheriff on how to get the state party chairmen of the party to denounce the merger of the four opposition parties, the Adamawa State chairman of the ANPP and Special Adviser to the BoT chairman, Umar Duhu has denied the report.

Speaking exclusively with LEADERSHIP during the unveiling of the new party's flag in Abuja, Duhu said the ruling party should rather focus its energy on how to develop the country rather than trying to destabilise the merger.

He said, "First of all I want to assure Nigerians that enemies of progress would want to do everything possible to scuttle the merger process. This cannot be more than the work of the devil and mischief makers.

"Governor Ali Modu Sherriff is a committed member of the ANPP and the merger committee. I am a state chairman of the party and he has not called any state chairman of the party to see him. And he has always been on hand to receive anybody. And he consults members of the party.

And he has not called or summoned any meeting to insinuate whether he is not interested in the merger. Let me make this clarification that within the time frame of him becoming the BoT chairman, the monumental progress we have had in ANPP could all be attributed to his commitment and presence as the BoT chairman.