APC IN CRISIS? TINUBU ASKS APC CHAIRMAN TO RESIGN IMMEDIATELY!

All Progressives Congress, APC, national
leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has
demanded the resignation of the national
chairman of the party, Chief John Odigie-
Oyegun.
A statement by Tinubu’s media office on
Sunday accused Oyegun of sabotaging the
will of democracy in Ondo State by overriding
the decision of the appeal panel that asked
for a fresh governorship primary following
investigations that showed that the delegates’
list used had been tampered with.
Michael Olusegun Abraham, an aspirant for
the governorship ticket of the APC in Ondo
State, had in a statement at the weekend
expressed disappointment at Oyegun over the
again the emergence of a former President of
the Nigeria Bar Association, NBA, Rotimi
Akeredolu, SAN, as candidate.
Tinubu said “The APC, a party born of the
quest for democratic good governance, is
under critical threat by those who managed to
be in the party but never of it. From the
party’s inception, the principles of democratic
fairness and justice were to guide APC
internal deliberations. Party founders realized
that only by intramural fair dealing could the
party remain faithful to the progressive ideals
that we presented to the Nigerian electorate
as our governing creed. If the party could not
justly govern itself, it would find it difficult to
establish and maintain just government
throughout the nation.
“In essence, the party was the embodiment of
a democratic promise made between its
members as well as a democratic vow made
to the public. Evidently, some errant members
believe promises and vows are mere words to
be easily spoken and more easily broken.
Chairman John Oyegun has breached these
good pledges in a most overt and brazen
display. In doing so, Oyegun has dealt a heavy
blow to the very party he professes to lead. It
is an awful parent who suffocates his own
child for the sake of a few naira. The party
was supposed to buttress APC members
elected to government at all levels. Because
of Oyegun’s conduct of our affairs, the party
is rapidly becoming an albatross to those it
was meant to help.
“Oyegun’s comportment regarding the Ondo
State primary will become the textbook
definition of political treachery and
malfeasance of the basest order. In early
September, the state primary was held. A
purported winner was named. Having faith in
the ways of the party, Tinubu publicly
accepted what he assumed to be a verdict
honestly derived. As a democrat, one must
face the possibility of defeat and accept such
as outcome with as much grace as one would
embrace victory. One of the few bright spots
during the conduct of the primaries was
Jigawa Governor, Alhaji Mohammed Badaru
Abubakar. He chaired the primary convention
with decorum and impartiality. He was
unaware that a tampered list had been slipped
into the process.
“Indeed within hours of the announcement,
news began to filter in that gravely disturbed
me. Credible allegations of fraud troubled the
waters. The delegate list had been materially
altered by someone in a strategic position to
so do. The names of over 150 valid delegates
were excised to make room for an equal
number of impostors. This was not a clerical
error. The alteration was wilfully executed
that the primary would be directed toward a
chosen end that bore nothing in common with
the will of most state party members. A
cunning few had tried to deceive the many
into believing they were outnumbered. “A
conspiracy to steal the Ondo primary had
been uncovered.
“Fortunately, the grand deception afoot had
been unable to cover its tracks fast enough.
Truth began to cry for justice. Several
candidates filed petitions contesting the
result. The party established an investigative
board to review the evidence. In a two to one
decision, the panel found the delegate roster
had suffered tampering. The panel
recommended that a new primary should be
held using the valid delegate list. This
recommendation was tabled before the
National Working Committee (NWC).
“After many hours of deliberations spanning
several days, a final vote was held by the
NWC. Before hand, NWC members agreed that
the decision of the majority would become
the stance of the party. Such is the way of
democracy. The NWC voted six against five to
cancel the fraudulent results and hold an
honest primary. For a moment, it seemed the
party would restore its integrity by giving
democracy a chance. However, those who
sought to scam an entire state would not let
the vote of 11 people spoil their enterprise.
“After the NWC vote, a noticeably agitated
Chairman Oyegun proposed the NWC engage
in prayer before concluding the meeting.
Adhering to this chairman’s request, NWC
members began to pray. Seeing that the
others had taken his bait, Oyegun used the
prayerful interlude to secretly excuse himself
from the meeting. Contravening the NWC
decision and in violation of all rules of
fundamental decency, Oyegun decided to
safeguard the fraud done in Ondo by
perpetrating a greater fraud. Oyegun
arrogated to himself the right to submit the
name of Rotimi Akeredolu to INEC as the
candidate of the party.
“Truth has finally come to light. There exists a
regressive element in the party that cares
nothing for the progressive ideas upon which
this party was founded. They joined the APC
because it was the best ride available at the
time. Now they want to guide the party into
the ditch. They want to turn the party into a
soulless entity incapable of doing good, just
like they are. When such a person tastes
power, they shed all good restraint. They
come to abuse the trust given them as if they
are the owners of that trust and not its mere
custodians. These people did little to build the
party but now will do much to wreck it.
“Our party was to stand for change. Oyegun
and his fellows seem to be on a different
wave length. They are the cohort of
Unchange. The APC wants to guide Nigeria
into a better tomorrow. Oyegun and the
cohort of unchange want to pull Nigeria back
into the past where rigging and vote stealing
were the old and new testaments of politics.
They want the people to think that there is no
alternative to their reactionary system of
skewed politics and imperious government.
“Thus, they seek to turn the APC into a
factory of the very political malpractices the
people soundly rejected in the past election.
To choke the APC in this manner is to kill the
chance for progressive reform for the
foreseeable future. Much more than the Ondo
primary is at stake. Oyegun has revealed his
team’s game plan: It is the destruction of
progressive politics and governance on behalf
of the people.
“As party chairman, Oyegun was supposed to
protect our internal processes and be an
impartial arbiter, a person in whom all had
confidence. Instead, he donned the garment
of a confident man, duping the NWC, the
party, and INEC in one fell blow. He has
robbed APC members in Ondo State of the
chance to pick in a fair manner who they
believe is the best candidate.
“As such, he has broken faith with the party
and probably has broken a few laws. The
consequences of what he has done are more
expansive than a man of his scope can
fathom,” Tinubu said as he said that Oyegun
must have been under some major sinister
influence as to allow what happened. “With
strong expectation, we await a response to
Oyegun’s wrongdoing from those who
clamored so long and loudly about Tinubu’s
alleged role in the Ondo primary.
“Leading into the primary, a prominent lawyer
from Ondo published lengthy missives alleging
that Tinubu was a malicious hand intent on
rigging the primary. His letters spoke of his
great love for democracy and justice. Though
Oyegun has assaulted democracy in a most
public and vulgar way, this lawyer’s prolific
pen will remain stilled. He dare not publish a
word about this travesty. His silence will be
sign for all who care to decipher its meaning.
“The plan was to point the accusing finger at
Tinubu. With everyone focused on Tinubu,
they would have distracted all attention from
the heist they had set in motion. As fate
would have it, the trickery they hoped to
conduct in the shadows has come to light.
“Those who so actively attributed imaginary
wrong to Tinubu now stand dumb and mute in
the face of confirmed impropriety. They
remain silent for reasons they cannot divulge.
Oyegun and his ilk turn out to be gangsters
adorned in the tunic of party authority.
“Oyegun has engaged in the strange math
where five is greater than six. This smacks of
how the PDP conducted its affairs and
orchestrated its own downfall. Tinubu
disparaged such malpractice when it was not
in his party. Tinubu surely disowns it now that
it has invaded the party he helped bring to
fruition.
“Tinubu has consciously refused to hold any
official position with the party to avoid the
perception that he was trying to control all
and sundry. Tinubu has even kept his peace
for some time despite many things that
happened within the party that were not quite
right. He exercised this forbearance because
the party is young. A collective endeavor
cannot avoid the mistakes and errors of
organizational newness and evolution.
“Yet, the wrongs Oyegun committed had
nothing to do with newness or the mistakes
occasioned by the path of reform. His actions
are in the nature of the old wrongs that have
afflicted our national politics much too long. If
Oyegun wants to walk backward into the past,
he has every right to it. However, he has no
right to drag the party or any of us with him.
Against our choosing.
“The informal title of national leader of the
party was given to Tinubu at the onset which
he accepted it as a sign from those who
wished to recognize my contributions to the
party’s formation. It is an honorific title which
he has been proud to wear until today. I
would rather not have any title yet reside in a
party that honors democracy than hold a title
in a party that says it honors me but that
treats justice with indecency. I find greater
honour and comfort where democracy and
fairness are found and respected.
“Oyegun has done the irredeemable. His coup
is an insult to party and to patriot, to reason
and to the reform agenda of this government.
To remain silent would be to admit the defeat
of the reform and progressive change many
have labored to bring forth. While the forces
resistant to change and reform are strong,
Tinubu dare not submit to them. Tinubu
encourages all party members not to submit
to them. If we acquiesce in this wrong, the
one greater than this shall cascade upon us.
“Oyegun’s transgressions are a warning. He is
but the mercenary of forces that seek to
return the nation to the old ways. If they get
away with this infraction, no telling what or
whom they will undermine tomorrow. Much is
at stake. On the chopping block, lies the
future of the political party in which the
majority of voters had placed their
confidence. To rescue the party, Oyegun must
go. He has shown that he and democratic fair
play cannot exist in the same party at the
same time.
“If Tinubu is to choose between John Oyegun
and progress toward a better Nigeria, the
choice has already been made. For those who
care about the party, who care about Nigeria
and its chance for a better tomorrow, now is
the time to stand against this brewing evil
before it grows to encompass all we have
built and all we hold dear.”



Source :naijaloaded
Edited by DANIEL IKECHUKWU EKWUNIFE