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 who he claimed Sunday had derailed from the path of
progressives.
In a stinking communiqué from his media office, Tinubu 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.
Tinubu in the communiqué further alleged that Oyegun’s action in allegedly
subverting the will of the people was not of his doing, saying that for a
man of the age of the national chairman to have done what he did that he
must have been under the influence of a “powerful and sinister arm at
work.”
Tinubu who said that the APC was now under threat of being suffocated by
anti-democratic forces pretending to be progressives, 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.”