By Nse Anthony-Uko,
ABUJA, (Sundiata Post) – Acting National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) party, Timi Frank, has called for the resignation of the party’s the National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun,
This is the second time in less than three months that the party’s spokesman is calling for the chairman’s resignation.
Recall that Frank, on Friday July 29th also asked Chief John Oyegun-led National Working Committee (NWC) to resign following its inability to intervene in the budget padding crisis that rocked the House of Representatives.
In an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, on Sunday, the APC spokesman, made a fresh call for Oyegun’s resignation, over his failure to mediate in the bribery allegations rocking the Ondo State primaries.
Frank said he decided to write the Buhari once again through an open letter to intimate him on the impending danger lurking to befall the party if the leadership continued to fold their arms and failed to effectively resolve issues as they arose within the party.
“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.”
According to him, the episode of the Ondo primaries was one case too many befalling the APC under the leadership of Chief Oyegun which he has been unable to mediate and resolve effectively.
“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, eg 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.”
In his letter, Mr Frank also reminded the President Buhari of his experience with Chief Oyegun in ANPP, which eventually led to his (Buhari’s) exit from the 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 an order of the day, whilst so many leaders and party faithfuls might be contemplating an exit of the party if nothing is being done urgently to salvage the already soar 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,” said.
Six months down the line after the last NEC meeting, Chief John Oyegun has not deemed it necessary to call for either the carcus 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.”
The party’s spokesman appealed to the president to immediately direct Chief 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, whist finding a lasting solution moving forward.
“Finally Mr. President, I am appealing to you that this open letter should 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,” he wrote.