{"id":30608,"date":"2014-08-27T11:59:43","date_gmt":"2014-08-27T10:59:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=30608"},"modified":"2014-08-27T11:59:43","modified_gmt":"2014-08-27T10:59:43","slug":"tom-ikimis-missiles-resignation-letter-apc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/tom-ikimis-missiles-resignation-letter-apc\/","title":{"rendered":"Tom Ikimi\u2019s Missiles and Resignation Letter To The APC"},"content":{"rendered":"

1. Following my widely publicized statement made in the aftermath of the<\/span>
13th June 2014 All Progressives Congress APC National Convention I took<\/span>
time off to reflect on the state of the party, the emerging<\/span>
re-configuration of the general political Structure in the country, and<\/span>
the visionary effects on the state of our Nation.<\/span>

2. I have spent almost 13 of the past 15 years faithfully dug in, in the<\/span>
trenches of the evolving democratic dispensations in our country,<\/span>
steadfastly pursuing my conviction that for true democracy to take firm<\/span>
root in Nigeria we should fall in line with the model practiced in<\/span>
successful democracies in the world, of a party in office and a<\/span>
scrutinizing alternative party holding the Government to account. We all<\/span>
have watched with admiration how in those other countries through a<\/span>
process of hitch-free General Elections, the baton of leadership changes<\/span>
hands from time to time from one Party to the other to provide alternative<\/span>
policies for their people. Therefore I have never considered my location<\/span>
outside the ruling party, as being in an \u201copposition\u201d, rather as<\/span>
supporting an alternative platform. All that was necessary for me was the<\/span>
association with individuals committed to build and uphold that platform.<\/span>
In this regard, my experiences during the era of the NRC and SDP in 1990<\/span>
-1993 are invaluable reference data bank in my quest to work to<\/span>
reincarnate the reality of two dominant political platforms in our<\/span>
country.<\/span>

3. That is why in 2005, I was fully involved in the creation of the<\/span>
Movement for the Restoration and Defence of Democracy (MRDD), which<\/span>
transformed into the Action Congress (AC) in 2006. I worked with a few<\/span>
dedicated colleagues here in my Abuja residence to successfully achieve<\/span>
the project. Two groups, comprising those of us who broke away from the<\/span>
PDP and a breakaway faction from the AD (notably the former South West AD<\/span>
Governors) made up the foundation membership. For the benefit of political<\/span>
science students, I should now reveal that the original documents we<\/span>
prepared for registration bore the name All Peoples Congress (APC) We<\/span>
eventually settled for AC in order to locate the new party higher up in<\/span>
the ballot paper. In 2010, in pursuit of a bigger party ahead of the 2011<\/span>
General Election, we changed the name from AC to ACN, in a very poorly<\/span>
constructed merger arrangement that failed. It was therefore an experience<\/span>
of great joy and satisfaction for me to host and lead the process that<\/span>
gave birth in February 2013, at my Abuja residence, to the All<\/span>
Progressives Congress (APC) with the successful unification of the major<\/span>
opposition parties \u2013 ACN, ANPP, CPC and a part of APGA. I am aware of the<\/span>
well known saying that success breeds many uncles, therefore the<\/span>
subsequent and recent claims of some persons as to the arrow heads of the<\/span>
creation of the APC does not surprise me nor will it surprise my devoted<\/span>
89 colleagues who worked earnestly with me on the project.<\/span>

4. The refreshing news of the entry of the All Progressives Congress (APC)<\/span>
into the Nation\u2019s political firmament was received across the nation and<\/span>
beyond with great joy and happiness. Our proclamation of a new party that<\/span>
would pursue democratic principles by example with particularly a culture<\/span>
of internal Party Democracy endeared us to the expectant public of teeming<\/span>
supporters who were all eagerly waiting to take up membership in the new<\/span>
party. For me, I thought we had finally broken the parochial boundaries of<\/span>
tribal and regional politics, which in my recent experience had stunted<\/span>
the growth of the now defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). Our<\/span>
clarion call for CHANGE reverberated across the country where all and<\/span>
sundry awaited with high expectation to enroll in the new party. I myself<\/span>
looked forward eagerly to a wider frontier of comradeship and to once<\/span>
again recreate happiness color and pageantry in our National Politics<\/span>
which in times gone by was so eloquently displayed in the legendary<\/span>
brotherly hand shake across the river Niger and river Benue by the<\/span>
founding fathers of our Nation\u2019s politics.<\/span>

5. It was my fervent hope that the emergence of the APC would bring to an<\/span>
end the sad and bitter experiences that I and some others endured in the<\/span>
ACN where one of the leaders from the South West exploiting the narrow<\/span>
National success of the party in that region virtually hijacked the party,<\/span>
proclaiming himself Overall Leader. Five of the six Governors in the Party<\/span>
at that time were all from that Region. Prominent leaders particularly<\/span>
from the North and South East notably, personalities such as former Vice<\/span>
President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, late Alhaji Abubakar Rimi, Alhaji Ghali<\/span>
Na\u2019Abba, Alhaji Lawal Kaita, Alhaji Mohammed Shata, Amb. Yahaya Kwande,<\/span>
Senator Iyorchia Ayu, Otumba Fashawe, Senator Ben Obi, Chief Dubem Onyia<\/span>
etc who could not come to terms with the man\u2019s behavior departed from the<\/span>
party back to the PDP. This mass departure of prominent members, from<\/span>
particular sections of the country, did not only seriously weaken the<\/span>
party but blemished it with an image of Regional and Tribal status. At<\/span>
that time I refused to quit the party despite the fact that my frequent<\/span>
solo protests against his behavior were dismissively ignored as I was<\/span>
always told that the man was the overwhelming financier of the Party.<\/span>
While I disagree stoutly with this bluff it is true that the particular<\/span>
individual constantly boasted of his wealth and of his funding of the<\/span>
party. I on the other hand could recall that this was a man I knew who was<\/span>
an easily forgettable character in the 1990s when I was National Party<\/span>
Chairman and when my candidate Sir Michael Otedola of blessed memory, won<\/span>
the Governorship of Lagos State. It would come as no great surprise if<\/span>
Asiwaju Bola Tinubu\u2019s boasted great wealth did not derive from any<\/span>
stupendous inheritance ancient or modern. Or that his sudden bragging as<\/span>
though Nigeria\u2019s Bill Gates is an accumulation of extraordinary hard work<\/span>
or financial wizardry. I would rather trust the informed whispers in the<\/span>
inner circles of the party which have it that having positioned himself as<\/span>
perceived leader in the most lucrative income sources of the party, he is<\/span>
recipient and dispenser of bags and bags of party funds. I am also become<\/span>
aware that he is, too, a beneficiary of most of the lucrative contracts in<\/span>
all the ACN states without exception. To further bolster his image it was<\/span>
also frequently said that Tinubu has control of all the votes from South<\/span>
Western Nigeria which, as has been currently touted, when added to the<\/span>
votes of North Western Nigeria would guarantee victory for the APC in the<\/span>
upcoming Presidential election.<\/span>

6. This reckless and arrogant self-aggrandizement paved the way for the<\/span>
imposition of a strange leadership on the APC in July 2013 when the party<\/span>
obtained registration from INEC. Those of us who had worked so hard<\/span>
towards the successful merger and creation of the APC were manipulated out<\/span>
of the scheme of things. In the bizarre struggle to seize control of the<\/span>
party we were even openly accused by the self-proclaimed owners of the<\/span>
party, of wanting to steal \u201ctheir\u201d party. Many of us in the party as well<\/span>
as keen observers outside frowned at the skewed leadership image of the<\/span>
party that was being paraded. An image that blatantly ignored National<\/span>
sensitivities. The draft constitution prepared by the Merger Committee<\/span>
included an exit clause, which provided a time limit of six months for the<\/span>
Interim Management of the Party. That clause mysteriously disappeared from<\/span>
the version of the constitution that was smuggled into INEC records. Chief<\/span>
Bisi Akande\u2019s National Chairmanship was therefore primed to stay on in<\/span>
power ad infinitum! Asiwaju Bola Tinubu frantically constituted a group of<\/span>
friends and cronies which he proclaimed to be the APC Leadership. The<\/span>
press, led by the Nation Newspaper, was made to propagate the aberration.<\/span>
And so rather than allow the construction of a sound base for the party<\/span>
conducive to the free admission of members Nationwide these self<\/span>
proclaimed leaders embarked on a National travel spree all in a blaze of<\/span>
publicity, criss-crossing the country in private aircraft, visiting PDP<\/span>
State Governors to offer them the State branches of the APC if they would<\/span>
join the party. While they obviously but ridiculously assumed that the<\/span>
crisis then in the PDP would last for ever the details of the agreements<\/span>
they reached with PDP break away Governors, were never revealed to the<\/span>
authentic Party Leadership but they were such that they ignited the<\/span>
explosion of irreconcilable crisis in some states, particularly Kano,<\/span>
Sokoto and Adamawa, resulting in the instant loss of some valuable key<\/span>
members.<\/span>

7. Major decisions said to be party decisions now started emerging from<\/span>
this select group whose ad hoc membership varied from time to time. They<\/span>
usually congregated at Tinubu\u2019s private parlor in his Asokoro \u2013 Abuja<\/span>
residence. Those who wanted to belong had to find or force their way into<\/span>
that parlor. Once initiated, your independence or capacity to challenge<\/span>
the plots that emerged from that cult venue became seriously curtailed.<\/span>
Rather than freely open up critical issues to free debate at the Interim<\/span>
Executive Council for democratic decisions to emerge, positions plotted at<\/span>
the notorious Asokoro parlor were being desperately foisted on the party<\/span>
for execution. A handful of us constantly challenged this trend with<\/span>
little success. Gradually, the direction of the Party assumed a focus on<\/span>
the contest for the Presidency. Then the images of presumed Presidential<\/span>
and Vice Presidential candidates as well as a privately cooked up<\/span>
Permanent Chairman for the party started emerging signaling a<\/span>
Muslim\/Muslim Presidential and Vice Presidential ticket. The details of<\/span>
this issue I have sufficiently dealt with in my previous statement.<\/span>
However let me state again that their calculation that the Presidency in<\/span>
the 2015 General elections will be won by the APC through votes from the<\/span>
North West and South West Nigeria became an obsession. Asiwaju Bola Tinubu<\/span>
who passionately believed in this theory and who arrogantly claimed<\/span>
custody of all South West votes already picked an aspirant from North<\/span>
Western Nigeria who will run as Presidential candidate with him as Vice<\/span>
Presidential candidate. The National image of the party immediately<\/span>
plummeted.<\/span>

8. This disastrous trend was worsened by the arrogant departure from<\/span>
observing the provisions of the Party\u2019s constitution particularly as it<\/span>
pertains to internal Party democracy. Crisis broke out at uncontrollable<\/span>
levels in the prosecution of the most undemocratic Ward, LGA, and State<\/span>
Congresses Nationwide. Machinery for managing this self-inflicted crisis<\/span>
was virtually non-existent and it was inside this mess that the<\/span>
controversial National Convention of 13th June was staged. The<\/span>
Constitution of the Party clearly defines the Party Organs and the Party<\/span>
Leadership. There is no provision for anyone to be named as the Party<\/span>
Leader. Asiwaju Bola Tinubu having paraded himself both at home and abroad<\/span>
as The Leader of Opposition and of the APC had great difficulty in<\/span>
descending from the fictitious throne. In order to continue manipulating<\/span>
the party from his parlors in Abuja and Lagos he struggled to retain Chief<\/span>
Bisi Akande as Chairman. He was further troubled by the growing influence<\/span>
of the Governors and panicked at the realization that he and his South<\/span>
West select caucus were losing their grip on \u201ctheir\u201d party to the<\/span>
Governors. His last minute efforts to rally a South West Leadership<\/span>
support for his absolute power over the party failed and chances of<\/span>
retaining Chief Bisi Akande as National Chairman also evaporated. In the<\/span>
circumstance as the only option was to find a successor National Chairman<\/span>
as well as other National Officers, an illegal process of horse trading<\/span>
between the Governors and Tinubu was initiated. The Interim Executive<\/span>
Council had no knowledge of all these processes. Chief John Oyegun a<\/span>
Tinubu plan B project said to be favored for his NADECO and SDP<\/span>
credentials and also as one who could be controlled now featured, came<\/span>
into the picture.<\/span>

9. Until recently the APC had 16 Governors who describe themselves as The<\/span>
Progressive Governors. They are made up of the original Merging Parties<\/span>
Governors and the breakaway PDP Governors who as a group are determined to<\/span>
take control of the Party. This composition of Merging Party Governors and<\/span>
PDP breakaway Governors cannot in any realistic sense be described as<\/span>
PROGRESSIVE. They have come together with different personal agendas built<\/span>
around the central purpose of acquiring National Power. Some of them nurse<\/span>
Vice Presidential ambition and some others are warming up for the<\/span>
Presidential contest. In the circumstance the project of taking control of<\/span>
the Party\u2019s National machinery became crucial and it was out of the<\/span>
Governor\u2019s caucus that the plan of zoning the National offices was<\/span>
initiated and concluded. The Interim Executive Committee had no input.<\/span>
Although it is claimed that the National Chairmanship slot was zoned to<\/span>
the South South, the horse-trading to produce the beneficiary took place<\/span>
outside the zone. In order to secure the agreement of most of the<\/span>
Governors I understand that an agreement was extracted from Chief Oyegun<\/span>
that he would agree to step down as Chairman should a Governor from the<\/span>
region emerge as either Presidential or Vice Presidential candidate. And<\/span>
although the Governors may not have envisaged the present set back they<\/span>
now suffer in their numerical strength the battle to take custody of the<\/span>
APC platform that they waged against the Tinubu structure signaled yet<\/span>
another twist in the tale.<\/span>

10. Apart from the Tinubu Group and The Governors Group there is a third<\/span>
Group, of known Presidential Aspirants comprising in the main General<\/span>
Muhamadu Buhari and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar who are both Northerners. The<\/span>
inclination of the party had always been to zone the Presidency to the<\/span>
North. Some Governors are now thinking otherwise and given the decisive<\/span>
role that they seek to play in the affairs of the Party as well as the<\/span>
tendency to ignore the principle of internal party democracy, a monumental<\/span>
disaster looms large in the selection of the Party\u2019s Presidential and Vice<\/span>
Presidential flag bearers later in the year. The construction of the new<\/span>
National Executive Committee through horse-trading by the Governors and<\/span>
Tinubu has established a tool structure that is not in the interest of<\/span>
transparency or democracy. To whom will the newly installed National<\/span>
Chairman be finally loyal? Will it remain the Nadeco\/SDP comradeship that<\/span>
will drive his loyalty to Tinubu or the current Governors ongoing tactics<\/span>
of dressing up the National Chairman that may become the game clincher?<\/span>
Time will surely tell! How these known Presidential aspirants will make<\/span>
their way in the contest that may feature some Governors is better<\/span>
imagined. Can Tinubu dare to ditch Buhari? I dey laf!<\/span>

11. Chief John Oyegun has made various statements since the 13th of June<\/span>
convention. He finally claimed that he emerged as National Chairman as a<\/span>
consensus candidate, which puts to rest his previous hasty announcement<\/span>
that I had stepped down for him. Needless to say the process adopted at<\/span>
the APC convention for deciding on a new National Chairman was a sham in<\/span>
which I did not participate. The Chief knows very well that an even<\/span>
playing field, a fundamental requirement for sound intra party contest did<\/span>
not exist. He also knows what I know that the conspiracy, with all the<\/span>
plotting and scheming to install him as National Chairman had been cooking<\/span>
long before the Convention process was revealed. The delegation that<\/span>
visited Benin City unceremoniously, last year, to admit him into the ACN<\/span>
party made no contact with the State Party Leadership. He was drafted into<\/span>
our State Party by outsiders who had ulterior motives. I was away in Dacca<\/span>
Senegal on a private visit two weeks or so before the convention. It was<\/span>
in the Senegalese capital I read on the Internet Chief Oyegun\u2019s press<\/span>
declaration of his candidature. When I returned home I was reliably<\/span>
informed that he had been instructed by his patrons to proceed and print<\/span>
campaign posters. All these maneuvers taking place even before the<\/span>
emergence of convention guidelines were manifestations of a festering<\/span>
conspiracy. Having been secretly assured of the outcome, the chief not<\/span>
only ignored the position of the Edo State Party on the issue, he never<\/span>
bothered to campaign. On my part I did not approach any of the 16<\/span>
Governors or any Party leader to solicit for support to contest the<\/span>
National Chairmanship except for Governor Adams Aliu Oshiomhole of Edo<\/span>
State whom I saw in Benin City a few days to the convention when I became<\/span>
aware that the National Chairmanship had been zoned to the South South<\/span>
zone. My State Party- Edo State APC naturally supported me unanimously but<\/span>
I printed no posters, did not campaign, did not return the nomination<\/span>
forms as there was to be no election.<\/span>

12. I have read statements in the press credited to one of the Governors<\/span>
who claims knowledge of what transpired, to the effect that the allocation<\/span>
of National Chairman and other National offices of the Party was<\/span>
negotiated between the Governors and Tinubu. The late night event that<\/span>
took place at Eagle Square on the 13th of June was just a stage-managed<\/span>
ritual to satisfy INEC requirements and deceive the nation. I was never<\/span>
part of any talks that resulted in the allocation decisions and certainly<\/span>
could never have been in support of a strange process that replaced the<\/span>
democratic procedures enshrined in the party\u2019s constitution.<\/span>

13. In the course of his maiden visit to Edo State Chief Oyegun, in his<\/span>
statement in the Governor\u2019s office referred to me as those \u201cdisgruntled\u201d<\/span>
at his emergence as National Chairman. In a subsequent interview in the<\/span>
Vanguard and Punch News Papers widely advertised on the Internet under the<\/span>
caption \u201cIkimi made mistake threatening to leave APC\u201d he said among other<\/span>
things \u201d It is unfortunate that when you feel hurt, you threaten your<\/span>
party. That alone creates suspicion about you in the party that you still<\/span>
belong to. Let me say it was a mistake for him to threaten to leave the<\/span>
party\u201d Certainly the euphoria and relish of his new office may have taken<\/span>
possession of him, blurring his vision such that he does not see the deep<\/span>
wound inflicted on the party, which is now disintegrating rapidly across<\/span>
the country. For the record let me state that it was I who admitted Chief<\/span>
Oyegun into the APP in 1999. He joined the ACN a year ago in Benin City<\/span>
after he departed from the ANPP where in the 2011 General Elections he was<\/span>
that party\u2019s vice Presidential candidate. He certainly did not depart from<\/span>
the ANPP with great pleasure. Therefore moving from one party to another<\/span>
should not be so strange to him as his strange statement portrays. Let me<\/span>
state that notwithstanding my well known disagreement over the years with<\/span>
the conduct of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, his actions within the AC, ACN and APC<\/span>
and notwithstanding the amazing retention of Chief Bisi Akande as National<\/span>
Chairman of all these parties since 2006, there was absolute mutual<\/span>
respect between me and Chief Bisi Akande. I have no difficulty in<\/span>
accepting any qualified member of the Party from any part of Nigeria<\/span>
emerging legitimately as National chairman. Chief John Oyegun visits me<\/span>
regularly in Benin City and Abuja where I treat him graciously but I<\/span>
demand of him to clarify what he meant by \u201cthe suspicion\u201d he claimed the<\/span>
Party he joined through ACN (a party he became a member of last year)<\/span>
would have about me, a founding foundation member of AC, ACN and APC. Is<\/span>
he speaking for himself or singing his master\u2019s tune?<\/span>

14. Senator Ali Modu Sherriff, former two terms Governor of Bornu State<\/span>
enthusiastically supported the merger. In fact his influence as Chairman<\/span>
Board of Trustees of the defunct ANPP was crucial to bringing the party on<\/span>
board. Senator Sherriff achieved his first tenure as a Nigerian Senator in<\/span>
1991 under the NRC party when I was the National Chairman. He always<\/span>
recalls the support i gave him in what was his maiden political outing. I<\/span>
appreciate the co-operation he gave to the merger committee, which<\/span>
substantially helped us to overcome impediments put on our way during the<\/span>
merger talks, by some leaders of the ACN and CPC, who did not want the<\/span>
ANPP on board. To get the APC off the ground Senator Sherriff made<\/span>
substantial contributions, which included huge finance. On the 7th of<\/span>
March 2014 the APC staged a National Summit at the Hilton Hotel in Abuja<\/span>
which was an elaborate event choreographed to officially unveil the new<\/span>
party. An extensive presentation was displayed to showcase how the party<\/span>
was formed. Most fair-minded persons who attended the event were shocked<\/span>
to observe that not even a word was mentioned of me as one of those who<\/span>
contributed to the creation of the APC. Film clips were shown of Bola<\/span>
Tinubu, Muhamadu Buhari, Bisi Akande, Ogbonnaya Onu and a few selected<\/span>
others who in most cases gave distorted accounts of the merger process.<\/span>
Surprisingly it was Senator Ali Modu Sherriff who became so disgusted by<\/span>
the deliberate distortion of the facts that he had the courage to take the<\/span>
microphone and openly berated the injustice. Some were obviously<\/span>
embarrassed but it turned out that those who prepared the presentation,<\/span>
many of them high ranking members of the party, were working on the<\/span>
instructions of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. For his noteworthy and courageous<\/span>
public intervention on this matter, Senator Sherriff was now marked down<\/span>
by Bola Tinubu as having opposed him so much so that shortly after the<\/span>
event both men almost engaged in physical combat at an expanded National<\/span>
Exco meeting in Abuja. Senator Ali Modu Sherriff may be a friend and long<\/span>
time political ally but he is certainly not my sponsor. I read several<\/span>
newspaper fictional stories that said Senator Sherriff was sponsoring me<\/span>
for National Chairman. That is not true.<\/span>

15. The merger talks of 89 members hosted by me, was managed by a<\/span>
leadership of four which included HE Ibrahim Shekarau of ANPP, Alhaji<\/span>
Garba Gadi of CPC, Senator Ani Okonkwo of the APGA faction and myself of<\/span>
ACN. I was unanimously nominated by the group to preside as coordinating<\/span>
chairman. We worked harmoniously together and on the 6th February 2013<\/span>
the four of us signed the agreement for the merger of the three parties<\/span>
and a part of APGA. I announced the merger and presented the agreement to<\/span>
the world. We continued to the next and difficult stages of agreeing a<\/span>
name, flag, motto and symbol for the party. These were very intricate<\/span>
negotiations! Our Sub-Committees worked on the Constitution and<\/span>
Manifesto. After all these were accomplished Asiwaju Bola Tinubu<\/span>
prevented a smooth establishment of the party in accordance with our<\/span>
agreements. HE Alhaji Ibrahim Shekarau former Governor of Kano State was<\/span>
sidelined in his State by a curious arrangement that ceded the party<\/span>
leadership in the state to the present Governor of Kano State with no<\/span>
defined role for the former Governor to play. He was compelled to<\/span>
withdraw his membership from the Party. He joined the PDP where he was<\/span>
recently appointed Minister of Education. Alhaji Shekarau possesses a<\/span>
very sound and critical mind. I found his contributions to our work most<\/span>
invaluable. Senator Ani Okonkwo has also announced his departure from the<\/span>
APC. The popular will, prevailing at the time among a cross section of<\/span>
members was that the Merger Leadership should continue to mold the party<\/span>
for at least six months and bring it to fruition by diligently<\/span>
establishing all its structures. Regrettably this was foiled by hijackers<\/span>
who have now crashed the project.<\/span>

16. Former Governor of Sokoto State Alhaji Atahiru Bafarawa could not<\/span>
accept the shabby treatment meted out to him by those who seized the new<\/span>
party. Governor Bafarawa is very loyal and dependable. He is an astute<\/span>
politician with whom I have been associated for about thirty years now. He<\/span>
was NRC State Party Chairman of Sokoto State in 1991 when I was National<\/span>
Chairman. He has always been very keen on the unification of the<\/span>
opposition parties and consequently hosted several merger meetings prior<\/span>
to the 2011 General Elections. On this occasion he hosted the sittings of<\/span>
the Constitution committee. Alhaji Bafarawa suffered unprecedented<\/span>
humiliation in the ACN in 2011 in a kangaroo convention staged in Lagos to<\/span>
select the ACN Presidential candidate. He therefore withdrew from the ACN<\/span>
party to return to the ANPP. This time as an ANPP delegate he<\/span>
enthusiastically participated in the merger talks. He has now withdrawn<\/span>
from the APC to join the PDP as he could not accept the sudden hand over<\/span>
of the APC Sokoto Party to the present Governor who during his tenure was<\/span>
his deputy. Senator Ali Modu Sherriff has not hidden his very strong<\/span>
disapproval of the precarious direction that the Party is heading. The<\/span>
conduct of 13th June Convention was totally unacceptable to him. Following<\/span>
his open challenge of Tinubu it did not surprise me that Tinubu negotiated<\/span>
away all Sherriff\u2019s nominees from the newly constituted National Executive<\/span>
committee. I understand that Sen. Ali Modu Sherriff is on his way out of<\/span>
the party, along with a very large slice of the party membership<\/span>
particularly from the North East. It is not a coincidence to me that the<\/span>
prominent members of APC targeted by Bola Tinubu such as Alhaji Atahiru<\/span>
Bafarawa, Sen Ali Modu Sherriff and myself are former NRC members or those<\/span>
perceived as Conservatives.<\/span>

17. Since after the 13th of June APC Convention and after my post<\/span>
convention statement, a few leaders of the APC have come to see me on<\/span>
their individual personal basis to plead with me not to abandon the party.<\/span>
I have received quite a number of telephone calls as well, conveying<\/span>
similar views to me. None of these persons could disagree with my very<\/span>
strong views against the turn of events regarding the mismanagement of the<\/span>
party nor of the grave injustice that has been perpetrated against me<\/span>
through an unprecedented level of conspiracy and bad faith. All they are<\/span>
saying to me is that I should not abandon what I had helped so much to<\/span>
build. It is truly amazing that all who have spoken to me privately<\/span>
without exception agree with me that the image of the APC as is a Tinubu<\/span>
Party has severely damaged the party but each time I openly raise issues<\/span>
that challenge the consequences everyone keeps quiet. It is common<\/span>
knowledge that the vote against the very popular candidate Sen Chris Ngige<\/span>
in the Anambra Governorship election and recently against one of the most<\/span>
successful Governors Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State was indeed a vote<\/span>
against Tinubu. Tinubu\u2019s obsessive calculation of South West\/North West<\/span>
votes is unproven and untested. It is in pursuit of a very selfish<\/span>
ambition that has seriously alienated block zones, such as South East,<\/span>
South South, North East and most of North Central from the party. The<\/span>
Party has collapsed in very many states such as Adamawa, it is in distress<\/span>
in Edo, Ogun, Oyo. Lagos, Nasarawa.<\/span>

18. In consideration of all the above I have come to the following<\/span>
conclusions:<\/span>

(i) I have lived to see one of my major political yearnings in place. Now<\/span>
there are two major Political Parties in my Country \u2013 The People\u2019s<\/span>
Democratic Party (PDP) and The All Progressives Congress (APC). I am<\/span>
satisfied that I have played an important and historic role in ensuring<\/span>
the emergence of an alternative platform to the party in office. There are<\/span>
many now claiming leadership of the APC who were very skeptical when we<\/span>
embarked on the merger project who openly dismissed the idea that it would<\/span>
never work. Yes, some of them tried several times in the past to unify<\/span>
some parties in order to achieve bigger platforms but in an atmosphere of<\/span>
prevailing dishonesty, greed, unbridled ambition, uncompromising and<\/span>
undiplomatic approaches to such delicate negotiations, their efforts<\/span>
yielded resounding failure. For my part I enjoyed the respect of all the<\/span>
89 delegates who met with me for about six months because they were very<\/span>
confident I had no personal agenda not even taking sides to protect<\/span>
positions of the ACN my own party then. But immediately we established<\/span>
what they had considered impossible to do,I became a prime target, as they<\/span>
believed that they could only control and manipulate the affairs of the<\/span>
party if I was not there. By my credentials in Political Party Leadership<\/span>
my claim to the top table in any party to which I belong is well earned!<\/span>
In the present atmosphere of envy, plots and gossip the long-term<\/span>
satisfaction of a political comradeship and brotherhood anchored on shared<\/span>
principles and ideology, of honor, trust and confidence in pursuit of a<\/span>
common goal remain elusive.<\/span>

(ii) I understand they claim that I possess a strong and independent<\/span>
personality as well as a mind of my own which cannot be bent and so I am<\/span>
said to be one that could not be controlled. On a rather mischievous note,<\/span>
my foremost assailant in that party, peddles in one breadth a smear<\/span>
campaign that if I were to be in charge, I would sell the party while in<\/span>
another fowl breadth that I am an enemy as I had served in the Abacha<\/span>
Government. My so called strong and independent personality sometimes<\/span>
misconstrued as an arrogant mien is merely the creation of nature and I<\/span>
have never ever been harmful at all to anyone around me but as for an<\/span>
independent and firm mind I believe it is an asset and an attribute which<\/span>
indeed is so direly needed for good and fair leadership in our society<\/span>
today and I apologize to no one for being so created. It is really ironic<\/span>
that I was not accused of going to sell the party over the past 13 years<\/span>
or so that I struggled in different recorded ways to make notable<\/span>
contributions in creating and building it up in its various forms but that<\/span>
i was now to sell the party after working successfully to achieve its<\/span>
present mega format. Who by the way is the buyer? Is it the PDP Government<\/span>
that opened its doors once more recently to one of the APC foremost<\/span>
boastful and noisy leader to consummate a mega oil deal on the eve of that<\/span>
controversial APC convention? Who then is really selling and who is indeed<\/span>
buying? Who sold Mallam Nuhu Ribadu\u2019s ACN Presidential candidature in<\/span>
2011? Was it Chief Tom Ikimi? My tenure as Foreign Affairs Minister during<\/span>
the Abacha Regime has turned out to be a befitting reference in patriotic<\/span>
diplomatic Service in our country for which I am extremely proud! Why am I<\/span>
targeted for being that Foreign Minister that brought peace to Liberia,<\/span>
restored democratic Government in Sierra Leone, maintained the leadership<\/span>
of Nigeria in the OAU, ECOWAS and the UN, the first to turn to China with<\/span>
a trade delegation that opened up massive opportunities for our country<\/span>
but they fail to point even a feeble finger at others in their midst who<\/span>
benefitted immensely from the Abacha Government, some who ran the most<\/span>
lucrative agencies during that tenure, some others who made away with<\/span>
giant oil fields or are we blind not to see the giant, fancy lucrative<\/span>
projects currently being executed in partnership with well known Abacha<\/span>
foreign friends!<\/span>

(iii). The recent mass exodus from the Party has effectively put the<\/span>
movement of the APC firmly in reverse gear. Those who have left include<\/span>
notables such as Alhaji Ibrahim Shekarau of Kano State, Alhaji Atahiru<\/span>
Bafarawa of Sokoto State, Alhaji Ali Modu Sherriff of Bornu State, Brg Gen<\/span>
Buba Marwa of Adamawa State, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu of Adamawa State, Senator<\/span>
Ani Okonkwo of Anambra State, Pastor Osagie Ize Iyamu of Edo State. I<\/span>
understand Chief Olusegun Osoba of Ogun State is on his way out too. The<\/span>
very weak National Leadership appointed for the Party in the last<\/span>
Convention is definitely incapable of restoring any positive movement to<\/span>
the party. The prevailing hostile atmosphere in the party does not present<\/span>
the opportunity for any intervention from me at this time at National,<\/span>
Zonal or State Level as I have done in the past.<\/span>

(iv). I led the process of change in Edo State politics in 2006 when as<\/span>
National Leader of the Action Congress (AC) I brought the new party to the<\/span>
state. I worked with dedicated and courageous colleagues to establish the<\/span>
party in Edo State and we recorded a resounding success in the 2007<\/span>
General Elections \u2013 our very first outing in the State. AC and eventually<\/span>
ACN has therefore been the Government in power in Edo State from 2008 to<\/span>
date and I am proud of the quality of peaceful, respectable and dignified<\/span>
leadership that I was able to provide to the party through these years.<\/span>
Comrade Adams Aliu Oshiomhole who joined us in the middle of our<\/span>
preparation for the 2007 General Elections met me in firm control of the<\/span>
Party and its Leadership in the State at the time. We welcomed him warmly<\/span>
and with our support he was lucky to emerge victorious in the State<\/span>
Governorship election and I have over the years enjoyed an excellent<\/span>
working relationship with the Comrade. Now as he is the APC Governor of<\/span>
Edo State, I wish him good luck, good health and God\u2019s guidance as he<\/span>
proceeds to conclude his second term in office. But during the past seven<\/span>
years of performing my role as leader of the party in Edo State, my<\/span>
personal experiences of the relationship between the political party, the<\/span>
legislature and the Executive at State level has instilled in me very<\/span>
useful lessons that would be immensely helpful in any future roles.<\/span>

(v). I have no current or perceivable ambition to contest for executive<\/span>
power. My quest for an alternative political platform in the country is<\/span>
basically in pursuit of a credible political structure that would<\/span>
guarantee the vital checks and balances in the system so that our people<\/span>
may enjoy the benefits of alternative choices of National Government from<\/span>
time to time. It is certainly not for the creation of a vengeful ravaging<\/span>
army of flatterers and favor-seekers at the command of a desperate upstart<\/span>
with the hideous mission of stampeding an illusory enemy. While I have<\/span>
always regarded the entire country as my constituency, I am not oblivious<\/span>
of the reality of my circumstance as a South Southerner, a Christian from<\/span>
a so called minority stock who will continue to align with the forces of<\/span>
change that would guarantee justice, prosperity, peace and happiness for<\/span>
all our peoples. The forces that have now seized the APC in a stranglehold<\/span>
are on a mission very much against my conscience and indeed my very being.<\/span>

(vi). I have always viewed a political party as a congregation of<\/span>
like-minded persons who become welded together in a close-knit brotherhood<\/span>
in a manner beyond mere friendship. In a Nation of two dominant political<\/span>
parties or even diverse political parties the members, across party lines,<\/span>
who are all in politics need not be sworn enemies. After all they are<\/span>
citizens of the same Nation with I suppose a mission of service to their<\/span>
people. Therefore their hold to power has to be at the discretion of the<\/span>
people.<\/span>

(vii). I am at the stage of currently critically re-examining the two<\/span>
dominant political parties in our country, which are the APC and the PDP,<\/span>
in both of which I have had close working knowledge. I have not ignored<\/span>
the other political parties but in the light of the foregoing I must now<\/span>
search to really ascertain where indeed my true political friends exist. I<\/span>
need to be, at this time of my life where I have friends who share a<\/span>
common vision with me and where my freedom, respect, honor and dignity<\/span>
would be guaranteed. Notwithstanding my enormous contributions over the<\/span>
past 12 years or so to building the alternative platform, after very deep<\/span>
thought and the widest consultations I have made the decision to withdraw<\/span>
my membership from the All Progressives Congress (APC) from today,<\/span>
Wednesday 27th August 2014.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1. 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