By Omeiza Ajayi
ABUJA – 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.
“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 the carpet or
taken with 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”, he said.
According to him, “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, egg 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”.
Part of the letter read;
“In the words of Ola Rotimi in The Gods are not to Blame, “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 horns 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 Representatives. 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 of performing my duties and my duties assigned
to themselves.
“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.
“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 the order of the day, whilst so many leaders and party faithful
might be contemplating an exit from the party if nothing is done urgently
to salvage the already sour 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 caucus 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,
whilst finding a lasting solution, moving forward.
“Finally Mr. President, I am appealing to you that this open letter 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”.


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