The ruling All Progressives Congress has said that the letter written by the party’s National Leader, Aswaju Bola Tinubu, accusing the APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, of undermining reconciliation efforts in the ruling party is not meant for the public.
APC National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Bolaji Abdulahi, told our correspondent that Tinubu’s letter to the APC national chairman should not have been leaked to the media.
Abdullahi, who spoke against the backdrop of a statement by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party in Lagos that the recurring face-off between Tinubu and Oyegun was an indication that the ruling APC would collapse ahead of the 2019 general elections, said that there was nothing strange about the current happenings in the ruling party.
The APC national leader had accused Oyegun of sabotaging the efforts of his presidential committtee to reconcile warring members of the party across the country.
He said that the APC national chairman had compounded the challenge of reconciliation by taking “improper unilateral decisions” on issues affecting national and state chapters of the party.
The APC spokesman, however, maintained that such disagreements between the party leaders were part of the internal challenges faced by all groups.
Abdullahi also assured that the issues causing friction between Tinubu and Oyegun would be promptly addressed.
‘There is nothing bad if Asiwaju chooses to write to the chairman, but what is problematic is making it a media issue. Writing a letter as a leader to another leader of the party, there is no wrong in it, but when it becomes a subject of the media, it’s not good. It should be strictly internalised within the party,” he said.
He, therefore, advised the opposition PDP to mind its own internal problems and stop meddling in the affairs of the APC.
“No party without issues. PDP should learn to moderate their celebrations over our issue, they are worse when you consider their time in government,” the APC spokesman said.
The opposition PDP had earlier said that the recent letter written by Tinubu, accusing Oyegun of frustrating reconciliation efforts in the party, was a practical evidence of the magnitude of internal problems currently plaguing the ruling party.
The PDP said that assertions in Tinubu’s letter implied that the ruling APC had admitted incompetence and inability to continue to hold the reins of power and move the country forward.
The Publicity Secretary, PDP, Lagos State, Mr. Gani Taofik, said, in a chat with our correspondent, that with the current happenings within the ruling APC, the party might not survive to contest the 2019 general elections.
Taofik said the indications had become clearer that the APC was heading for the rocks ahead of next year’s polls, adding that Oyegun’s leadership had not helped the ruling party, which he said was already ailing.
He said, “It is only now that the party (APC) is coming to admit indirectly, because this is an admission. It is an admission that the party has not been cohesive and, of course, we know the nation has been sorting and sorting from their own.
“This is an indirect further allusion that the nation is sick under APC, which is the party in government. The issue with Oyegun is like when we have an Oba or chief in a community that is always at loggerheads with all his chiefs. So, Oyegun is supposed to be the leader of the APC and by extension, rally everybody, including ministers, even the President and other leaders, governors, so that Nigerians can at least enjoy their so-called qualities, but this had never happened.”
But other the leaders of the APC disagreed with the position of the opposition PDP, saying that the ruling party was only going through a test that would toughen it for the task ahead.
The APC stalwarts added that the leadership of the party was already working to reconcile the two warring leaders.
APC Chairman, Ekiti State, Chief Jide Awe, said the party had already summoned a National Working Committee meeting, adding that the disagreement between Tinubu and Oyegun would be ironed out.
“Both of them are our bosses and we cannot fold our arms and allow this to continue. I can assure you that there will be NWC meeting on Monday, and whatever the case may be, it will be settled there,” he said.
But the Kogi State APC Chairman, Alhaji Haddy Ametuo, said that the party’s national chairman would be called to order and assured that things would be normalised to move the party forward.
“Everything will soon be normalised. They will call him to order and the party will move forward. They will settle the issue,” he said.
