…mobilise resources for Oyegun’s re-election
- We’ll be guided by party constitution – Okorocha
- Crisis threatens Fayemi’s guber ambition
Fresh indications have emerged that the embattled National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, may get his tenure elongated through an electoral contest in June.
Impeccable sources within the party informed our correspondent that his supporters among the APC governors and ministers had mobilised resources for his re-election.
According to sources in his Benin, Edo State, home base, Oyegun was shocked by President Muhammadu Buhari’s statement, reversing the earlier concluded tenure elongation for the APC national chairman.
The next convention will finally sink the perceived domination of Tinubu, who is trying to install Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, as the national chairman of the APC. We are waiting for them, and I can assure the whole world that my boss (Oyegun) will win any election at the next party convention
The President’s volte-face sharply contravened a position reached, early last February, at the National Executive Council meeting of the party in Abuja, where it was resolved that Oyegun’s tenure of office, which would lapse in June, be extended by one year.
President Buhari’s fresh position, which saddened Oyegun’s supporters, who include ministers and governors, however, elicited wild jubilation among forces loyal to the APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, whose support for Oyegun had long collapsed.
A close aide to one of the pro-Oyegun APC governors in the South-West confided in our correspondent that in order to neutralise Buhari’s statement and still keep the current National Working Committee members, led by Oyegun, intact, the governors and ministers in support of the embattled chairman had retreated to the boardroom, to re-strategise.
The aide, who craved anonymity, disclosed, “What the governors and ministers are going to do is to work for the re-election of Oyegun at the next party convention. Something of this nature is all about getting the needed financial resources to motivate the various delegates to re-elect all the current NWC members.
“Apart from the Deputy National Chairman, Engr. Segun Oni, who is contesting for governor in Ekiti, all the others will be re-elected, and if the Tinubu camp has candidates to stand against them, let’s see how they (the Tinubu camp) will make it.”
But speaking frontally on the touchy issue, a close aide to Odigie-Oyegun, Hon. Soni Idahagbon, said the next convention of the party would “finally sink the dominance of Tinubu in the APC.”
“The next convention will finally sink the perceived domination of Tinubu, who is trying to install Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, as the national chairman of the APC. We are waiting for them, and I can assure the whole world that my boss (Oyegun) will win any election at the next party convention. He will not only re-emerge as national chairman, all his people will re-emerge in their respective categories with him,” he said.
Idahagbon predicated his confidence on his claim “that over 22 governors, many ministers and 98 per cent of the NEC members are in full support of Oyegun.”
He said Buhari was deceived by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to speak against tenure elongation, adding that the Oyegun camp had no fear ahead of the party convention.
Odigie-Oyegun’s aide said, “My brother, you see, it was later that day (when Buhari spoke against tenure elongation) that he realised that his Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, deceived him about the whole issue. The governors were angry with him (Buhari), except for those in the camp of Tinubu and Oshiomhole.
“You see, Osinbajo told the President that as the issue of tenure elongation was in court, if the court eventually gave judgment today, and it was not in Oyegun’s favour, when Oyegun might have conducted the presidential party primaries, the court might void the APC presidential candidate’s election, and that might give room to the PDP.
“Osinbajo, having brainwashed the President, using the advantage of being a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, made the President to come to the meeting with that impression, until the overwhelming population of the governors and the NEC members shouted him down. But the President later explained to them what transpired.
“The political maneuvering of Tinubu and Oshiomhole will not work because our people know them too well. Their desperation has further given Oyegun more support from the governors and the 98 per cent of the NEC members. Remember, the governors control their various state delegates. So, how will they win?”
Complementing him, an APC chieftain in Edo State, Hon. Blessing Edigin, lambasted those demanding the removal of Oyegun.
He said those critising all the moves of the APC national chairman and asking for his sack from the office were only doing so out of jealousy.
Edigin, in a chat with our correspondent in Benin City, the Edo State capital, added that the politicians who derived joy in criticising Oyegun were ignorant of what a national party leadership entailed.
He argued that most of Oyegun’s critics were only just bellyaching because of the rising political profile of the former governor of the state.
Edigin said, “Most of those criticising Odigie-Oyegun are not conscious of what they are doing. They are just echoing the voice of their paymasters, whose intentions are not noble. If you ask some of these people to analyse the situation, they will be tongue-tied as they are not sure of what they stand to benefit from their protest or the crux of their argument.
When it is time to take decisions in their favour, Buhari is the leader of APC, but when the President took certain decisions against Oyegun and his NWC, Buhari is no longer the leader of the party
“What is really happening is that some elements are bent on rubbishing the good deeds of Chief Odigie-Oyegun. But their evil machination will come to nothing, by God’s grace. For the record, Chief Oyegun’s tenure as national chairman of the ruling APC has brought some measure of good tidings in the lives of ordinary and honest Nigerians.
”As we speak now, the party is in control of over 20 states out of the 36 states in the country. That is a sign of Chief Odigie-Oyegun’s depth in character. He has the ability to relate with the high and the low, no matter the circumstance. Those agitating against his leadership will learn to respect him when he is put on a scale of character evaluation. As they say, a prophet is never respected in his own home.”
Meanwhile, the Publicity Secretary of the APC in Ogun State, Mr. Sola Lawal, speaking on behalf of the party, said the NEC remained the supreme body of the APC. According to him, Buhari is only a leader, and as such, the decision of the APC NEC to elongate Oyegun’s tenure is still valid.
Lawal said, “The President only has a voice, the NEC is supreme. In this case, I do not see the NEC reversing itself on tenure elongation for Oyegun and others because 20 out of the 24 APC governors voted in favour of tenure elongation.
“It is not possible for an individual to foist a new candidate on the NEC without carrying everyone along.”
TINUBU’S CAMP IN FRESH STRATEGY
But it was gathered that, cashing in on Buhari’s professed knock-down for tenure elongation, the Tinubu camp is set to field Oshiomhole, the immediate past governor of Edo State, to replace Oyegun.
The camp, according to findings, is also working on some of the APC governors, many of who have been assured of full support towards the realisation of their second term tenure.
Outside Governors Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State, Yahaya Bello of Kogi, and Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara, the Tinubu group is reportedly working on other northern APC governors, such as Bello Masari of Katsina, Abubakar Yari of Zamfara, Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi, Abdullahi Abubakar of Bauchi, Kashim Shettima of Borno, Ibrahim Geidam of Yobe and Tanko Al-Makura of Nasarawa.
The Point furthered gathered that in the South West, only Governor Akinwumi Ambode of Lagos State, and his Osun State counterpart, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, are with the Tinubu camp on the Oshiomhole choice; while Governors Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo, Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo and Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun are solidly behind Oyegun. Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State, according to sources, is in full support of Oshiomhole, who is reportedly his godfather.
Sources within the party also informed our correspondent that, among the ministers, the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi; the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola; and their counterpart in the Ministry of Information, Alhaji Lai Muhammed, were the arrowheads of Oyegun’s tenure elongation quest.
TINUBU AMBUSHES FAYEMI
During last week’s colloquium to mark the 66th birthday anniversary of Tinubu in Lagos, which was attended by President Buhari and other chieftains of the APC, Fayemi’s role on the occasion was barely visible, leading to some media reports that he was absent.
However, Oyegun, Bello and many others in the Oyegun camp were conspicuously absent at the glamorous event.
“Oga (Tinubu) was disappointed in Fayemi, going by the Judas role he played in the Ondo election that saw to the election of Akeredolu, who was not with us. And now, he is the one encouraging Oshiomhole to perpetrate many anti-Constitution antics in the APC. And to think that this was Fayemi, who was not known in his home state when Tinubu forced him on the party in Ekiti and ensured that he eventually became governor,” a close aide of Tinubu, who did not want his name mentioned, owing to the sensitivity of the issue,
lamented.
The aide also hinted that the coming APC governorship primary in Ekiti State would be “a pay-back day” for Fayemi, who has already declared his aspiration to contest for governor in the state.
“We will go there and mobilise against him, as we don’t want such a person again in our circles,” he said.
It was, however, gathered that Tinubu was weighing his option between endorsing a former governor of Ekiti, Mr. Segun Oni, or one of his trusted supporters, Engr. Kayode Ojo, for the party’s governorship ticket.
OYEGUN MUST GO – DEPUTY PARTY SPOKESMAN
Meanwhile, the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Comrade Timi Frank, has said that it is only wise for the APC to do away with Oyegun as the party’s chairman, describing his tenure, so far, as a disaster in the party.
Frank, a staunch Tinubu loyalist, said, “I’m telling Chief Oyegun to retire now before he disgraces President Buhari, because it is shameful and disgraceful for the NWC to say Buhari is not the leader of the APC.
“This is a way of disgracing him (the President) before Nigerians and the entire world, that he has no say in his
own party.
“I remember several times, the party under Chief Oyegun could not hold meeting, not to talk of taking any decision because the President, who they claimed to be the leader of the party then, was not available.
“So, we want to know what has changed now. When it is time to take decisions in their favour, Buhari is the leader of APC, but when the President took certain decisions against Oyegun and his NWC, Buhari is no longer the leader of the party. This is an embarrassment to the
President.”
Reacting to the issue in an interview with The Point, the APC Chairman in Ekiti State, Chief Jide Awe, said, “Already, the party has set up a technical team to look into what the President said, whether to reverse tenure elongation and consider re-election or not. Whatever they arrive at is the position of the party in Ekiti State.
“But our worry is that if a decision is not taken on time or if a wrong decision is taken, it may affect the position of the party after the primary election.”
Awe’s position, findings revealed, has captured the dilemma of the state chapters of the APC, as to what may become the fate of their candidates if a law court nullifies the election of their candidates, as having emerged as products of illegal party leadership.
Musing on the controversial issue, a former Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on New Media, Mr. Reno Omokri, said, “I am liking this confrontation between Oyegun and Buhari. Buhari says APC NEC’s tenure elongation can’t stand as he’s afraid it will tarnish his adoption as APC’s sole candidate for 2019, while Oyegun challenges him. When you allow your Inspector General of Police to disobey you, why would your Chairman
obey you?
WE’LL BE GUIDED BY CONSTITUTION-OKOROCHA
Meanwhile, in his reaction to the reported plan by some APC governors to re-elect Oyegun come next June, the Chairman of the APC Governors Forum and Governor of Imo State, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, said the Constitution of the party would eventually guide the governors on what to do.
Speaking for Okorocha, the Imo State Commissioner for Information, Prof. Nnamdi Obiaraeri, told our correspondent, “The President has spoken on the matter and the President’s position is clear and should be respected.
“But what does the constitution of the party say? The governors, even if they want to re-elect Oyegun, will be guided by the party’s constitution, so that nobody makes mistakes.”
