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Nairaland Forum / Nairaland / General / Politics / Tinubu, Oyegun Feud Resurfaces After Edo Poll (515 Views)
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Tinubu, Oyegun Feud Resurfaces After Edo Poll by donbrowser(m): 4:43am On Oct 05, 2016 |
The quarrel between the National Leader of the
All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu,
and the National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-
Oyegun, assumed another dimension on Tuesday.
While Odigie-Oyegun took his case to President
Muhammadu Buhari, some party youths
protested Tinubu’s vituperative call on Odigie
Oyegun to resign from office.
The crisis in the party blew open recently when
Tinubu, in a statement, called for the resignation
of the party chairman.
The bone of contention was the party’s
governorship primary in Ondo State, which
produced Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu as the candidate
for the November 26 governorship election in the
state.
Tinubu, a former Lagos State governor, had
faulted Odigie-Oyegun for overruling the decision
of the party’s National Working Committee that
upheld the decision of the Appeal Committee
which recommended the cancellation of the
primary.
The party chairman, who had said he was
engrossed in the preparations for the Edo State
governorship poll, which was won by APC’s
Godwin Obaseki, however, refused to take issue
with Tinubu, who he said he held in high esteem.
Odigie-Oyegun lost his ward to the Peoples
Democratic Party in the governorship election,
held on September 28, 2016.
On Tuesday, however, Odigie-Oyegun took his
grievance to President Muhammadu Buhari.
The meeting between the President and the
party’s national chairman, who is also a former
governor of Edo State, was held behind closed
doors at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Speaking with State House correspondents at the
end of the meeting with Buhari, Odigie-Oyegun
said Tinubu was too harsh on him.
He, however, said the situation between the two
of them could not be described as a rift but a
difference of opinion.
“There is no rift with Asiwaju. We have
difference of opinions, difference of perception
and I think that is normal. Yes, I agree that the
nature of the (Tinubu’s) statement was a bit
harsh,” he said.
When asked if he would resign as demanded by
Tinubu, the ex-governor said, “The methods of
getting rid of a national chairman, if that is what
I will call it, are spelt out in the constitution.
They don’t take place on the pages of
newspapers.”
He said it was proper for all arms of the party,
including the National Executive Council, to meet
and the meeting would hold at the appropriate
time.
Odigie-Oyegun denied being the brains behind
the youths who protested against Tinubu at the
party’s national headquarters earlier in the day.
He, however, promised to investigate the matter.
“God forbid (that I sponsor the protest)! Anybody
who knows me knows that it is not my style. I
am equally shocked and I am going to look into it
and find out why and who is behind it.
“Do people know how far back our association
goes? Do they know that we were in the
trenches together in the NADECO days? Why
can’t people, who have mutual respect for each
other, have different opinions?
“All we had was difference of opinions. Yes, it
was expressed a bit harshly but that doesn’t
remove the basic fact that we have worked
together for a very long time,” he added.
Odigie-Oyegun said all that transpired in the
party’s primary election in Ondo State were
contained in the report of the chairman of the
primary committee.
When asked whether the party would consider a
change of mind since the result is generating
controversy, the party chairman said, “It is only
INEC (the Independent national Electoral
Commission) that can make a U-turn on the
Ondo primary.”
Odigie-Oyegun described the recent governorship
election in Edo State won by the party’s
candidate, Godwin Obaseki, as a referendum on
the performance of Governor Adam Oshiomhole
and on the quality of the party’s candidate.
Earlier on Tuesday, a group of youths stormed
the APC National Secretariat to protest what
they claim was Tinubu’s overbearing influence on
party’s affairs.
The party’s youths, who came under the aegis of
the APC Democratic Youth Frontiers, held several
banners with anti-Tinubu posters.
Some of them read, ‘We are united in APC;
Tinubu can’t separate us’; ‘Tinubu is not God’;
‘Greed is not democracy’; ‘No room for an
emperor’.
Leader of the protesters, Mr. Lookman
Salaudeen, said the APC national leader should
be told to either toe the party line or be shown
the way out.
He said, “We call on Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu
to either leave the APC, (or) curtail his greed
(and) toe the line and exhibit the kind of loyalty
needed for party cohesion whether from ordinary
members or national leaders.
“Nigeria is bigger than Lagos State, where you
control affairs like a god; whose words are
sacred and must be obeyed at all times.”
The group leader said he and members of the
group were compelled to stage the protest when
it became apparent that attacks on Buhari’s
appointees and other party leaders were coming
from within.
Salaudeen added, “We had initially thought this
was the handiwork of the opposition Peoples
Democratic Party, who wanted to continue with
the unjustified attacks on the administration of
Mr. President.
“We are unusually perplexed that our leader, who
parades himself as the national leader of our
great party, the APC, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola
Tinubu, is the one now whistle-blowing against
the same party he claimed to have brought into
prominence.
“Had any other member of the party done
something like this, it would have been classified
as an anti-party activity; it remains the same
anti-party act, an offence from whatever
perspective it is considered.
“He is apparently not seeing reason as he again
launched an attack on our national chairman,
Chief John (Odigie-) Oyegun, whom he asked to
resign, the same way his proxies have been
demanding the resignation of the appointees of
Mr. President.
“He did this without any thought on how the call
on the national chairman to resign would affect
our party in the Edo State governorship election
that was taking place just hours away from when
he made that error of poor judgment.”
When contacted, Tinubu’s spokesman, Mr. Tunde
Rahman, promised to get back to The PUNCH.
His response was still being awaited as of the
time of filing this report.
Also, a pro-APC group, ‘APC Disciples in Edo’,
has warned against plots by some leaders of the
party to force Odigie-Oyegun out of office by all
means.
The group, in a statement by its leader, Chief
Francis Inegbeniki, on Tuesday, said no amount
of conspiracy would remove the national
chairman.
It stated that Oyegun had not committed any
offence warranting such calls for his resignation
when it was so evident that he had delivered on
his mandate as results of different elections held
under him had testified.
It added, “it is unfortunate that Chief Bola
Tinubu, our National leader, whom we all respect
so much and Timi Frank to have asked Oyegun
to resign from office, as both of them never
disclosed any offence that Oyegun committed to
warrant his resignation.
“Oyegun was not an aspirant in the Ondo APC
primary; so, it is unnecessary for anyone to
direct his anger to Oyegun. It is not fair to put
all the blame on the head of Oyegun.” Source: http://punchng.com/tinubu-oyegun-feud-resurfaces-edo-poll/ |
Re: Tinubu, Oyegun Feud Resurfaces After Edo Poll by Flyingngel(m): 7:07am On Oct 05, 2016 |
Ok |
Re: Tinubu, Oyegun Feud Resurfaces After Edo Poll by joeprince23(m): 7:18am On Oct 05, 2016 |
Even punch news a SW media is being critical of JAGABAN,truely their are evil forces within APC fro SW hellbent on un maskeking BAT.interesting days ahead |
(1) (Reply)
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