Acting National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress APC,
Comrade Timi Frank has written an open letter to President Muhammadu
Buhari, saying if Nigerians must key into his recently-launched social
reorientation campaign, #ChangeBeginsWithMe, and the president must
kick-start the process from within the APC.
Frank was again reacting to the face-off between the national chairman of
the party, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun and one of its national leaders,
Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu who had accused the chairman of mishandling the
Ondo state governorship primary election of the party.
The Letter Reads:
OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT MUHAMMADU BUHARI:
AN URGENT APPEAL TO SAVE OUR PARTY NOW!
Mr President sir, it is with great enthusiasm and patriotism that I’ve
decided to write you once again through this open letter to intimate you
on the impending danger lurking to befall our great party and I’m
optimistic that this letter will serve its urgency and purpose of reaching
you and our leaders and elders of our great party.
In the words of Ola Rotimi- the gods are not to be blamed, “When a
chameleon brings forth a child, it is not the child that is expected to
dance. Yes, the king should act as a king.” The recent outburst by one of
our founding fathers and a National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu
against the National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun seems to be
threatening the smooth sail and peaceful coexistence of our great party
the All Progressives Congress (APC) and if nothing is done urgently, them
I’m afraid “the pot left on the fire will definitely burn.”
Mr. President sir, I wish to reiterate my earlier stand on this matter and
I’m also elated that I’ve been vindicate in my struggle to save our party
all the while, when so many thought of me as a rebel or paid apologist. It
is therefore no secret that I was one of the very first persons in the
party who took the bull by the horn and openly raised the alarm of urgent
issues which had to be addressed in other to steer the APC ship in its
right course. Suffice to say that all my efforts to plead with the party
leadership to redirect its affairs fell on deaf ears as no one took me
seriously at the time.
You may recall Mr President, that the origin of this crisis began when the
issue of the National Assembly leadership arose and the decision of the
party at the time against party members, especially against the Senate
President and Speaker of the House of Representative. I foresaw the
impending cracks at the time when the party leaders ignored the injustice
against these two persons and I subsequently raised viable concerns which
still fell on deaf ears.
Again, when I raised concerns against the manner in which Chief Oyegun
handled the conduct of the Bayelsa state governorship primaries that
produced the APC candidate, no one listened to me, and alas the outcome of
that election became a clear testament to my alleged fears. Subsequently,
when my immediate boss, Alhaji Lai Mohammed became the Minister of
Information, I was supposed to immediately fill in the gap and act in his
stead as enshrined in our party constitution as the Acting National
Publicity Secretary of the party, but this was not to be as I was
outrightly being persecuted for reasons unknown and perhaps for selfish
interest. I was deprived from performing my duties and my duties assigned
to themselves.
It is worthy to note that Today, we are witnessing the same concerns and
fears being expressed by one of the founding fathers of our great party,
who also doubles as a national leader agreeing with my earlier call that
Chief Oyegun should resign as the National Chairman.
This allegation of bribery raised by Asiwaju Tinubu as regards the recent
Ondo governorship primaries should be of concern to all well meaning party
leaders and elders and should not be swept under carpet or taken of
levity. This weighty allegations should and must be properly investigated
because of course “there is no smoke without fire”. Mr. President sir, you
recall the launch of the “Change Begins With Me Campaign” a fortnight ago,
where we were admonished to lead by example, and I dare say that this
change must start from within the party so that Nigerians can follow suit.
Mr. President sir, the episode of the recent Ondo primaries is just one
case too many befalling the APC under the leadership of Chief Oyegun and
I’m therefore challenging Chief Oyegun to tell Nigerians if he has been
able to mediate over any crisis that has been successful. As far as I am
aware, APC under Oyegun has not been able to resolve any crisis in the
party since we became the ruling party.
Chief Oyegun has shown that he lacks the capacity to resolve all the
crisis currently rocking our party in nearly all the states of the
federation. Not even personal grudges and rifts between party members, eg
Senator Shehu Sani vs Gov. El rufai in Kaduna, or Senator Kwankwaso vs Gov
Ganduje in Kano, Senator Goje vs Senator Nafada in Gombe, and lastly the
rift between late Chief Audu’s family against Gov. Yahaya Bello of Kogi
state . The crisis rocking the Bayelsa state APC which is also divided
against itself as well as Delta, Ondo and Ogun states are visible examples
to mention a few.
Mr. President sir, I’m aware you may not have forgotten hurriedly your
experience under Chief Oyegun’s chairmanship in the defunct All Nigerians
People’s Party (ANPP) that eventually led to the series of events which
saw your exit from the party, and this same man is at it again.
It is said that “A stitch in time saves nine”. I recall how we raised
similar concerns when the PDP was still PDP under Alhaji Bamanga Tukur.
This warnings were of no effect even as things got worse daily, suffice to
say that the appeal from party leaders to former President Jonathan to act
yielded no result as he acted rather late and the result is the very
obvious which is still bedevilling the PDP up until this day.
It is no longer news today that so many leaders of the APC are aggrieved
as a result of the handling of party affairs by Chief John Oyegun.
Injustice has become an order of the day, whilst so many leaders and party
faithfuls might be contemplating an exit of the party if nothing is being
done urgently to salvage the already soar taste. I’m aware that in a swift
reaction to Sen Bola Tinubu’s outburst, former Vice President and
chieftain of the APC Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, pointed out vividly that the
party leadership is expected to be guided always by respect for the rules,
fairness, equity, neutrality and respect for democratic consensus. We must
therefore be bold to say that these principles may not be found in the
dictionary of Chief Oyegun.
Six months down the line after the last NEC meeting, Chief John Oyegun
has not deemed it necessary to call for either the carcus meeting, BoT,
NEC or any other leadership meeting to discuss issues of national
importance and those confronting our great party. This clearly is in sharp
contrast with the party’s constitution, which states in article 25 b( i)
that “the National Executive Committee shall meet every quarter and or at
any time decided by the national chairman or at the request made in
writing by at least two-third of the members of the National Executive
Committee provided that not less than fourteen (14) days notice is given
for the meeting to be summoned.”
In the light of the aforesaid therefore, I am appealing to Mr. President
to immediately direct Chief John Oyegun to summon an emergency NEC/ BOT
and Caucus meeting which will enable the party leadership to sit face to
face to confront and resolve all pending issues before our great party,
whist finding a lasting solution moving forward.
Finally Mr. President, I am appealing to you that this open letter should
be treated with all sincerity of purpose to enable us surmount our
challenges as a party. It must be noted that with a strong, vibrant and
indivisible party, we will together achieve our dream of queuing behind
your able leadership in delivering the much needed change to Nigerians. I
am therefore optimistic that this open letter will serve as the yardstick
of the beginning of new things to come for our great party.
Thanks
God bless President Muhammadu Buhari!
God bless our party APC!!
God bless Nigeria!!!
SIGNED:
Comrade Timi Frank
APC Acting National Publicity Secretary.
02/10/2016