Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, national
leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) says he has lost
confidence in the national Chairman of the party, Chief John Oyegun.
Tinubu
on Sunday, September 24, asked Oyegun to resign, accusing him of
sabotaging the will of democracy in the APC governorship primary in Ondo
State.
He said Oyegun bypassed the decision of
the appeal panel that asked for a fresh governorship primary in the
state following investigations that showed that the delegates’ list used
had been tampered with.
An APC aspirant in the Ondo governorship primary election, Michael Olusegun Abraham, had faulted Oyegun over the emergence of Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN) as the party's flagbearer in the gubernatorial poll.
Abraham is said to be Tinubu's candidate in the race.
A
statement issued by Tinubu's media office reads: "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."
The statement further said:
"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,”
“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."
The
national leader, however, called on the party's faithful and everyone
who cares about rebuilding a better Nigeria to reject Oyegun and his
army of evil geniuses before they erode the reputation "we have built
and all we hold dear.”
