Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has opened up on the allegations leveled against him by Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu… “Asiwaju is a well-respected leader of our party, so I cannot be seen speaking evil against him. I have to consult properly with other leaders of the party before we make any definite statement. Again, you know we have a crucial election here in Edo, which is my priority right now.”
“We don’t want to lose focus, and I know Asiwaju also wants us to win because we all have worked hard for this. So, maybe after the election, if there is need, I will speak, if no need, I will relax. But all I can say now is that most of the things said in the papers about me are not true. I have always believed in internal democracy, that the credibility of primaries must be taken seriously.”
“I believe that if primaries of parties are not credible, it may derail any democracy, so I don’t play with these things at all. Everybody knows me, and I don’t joke with my credibility, and I have tried to maintain it. Like I said, Asiwaju is our leader, and we all hold him in high esteem, so I will never join issues with him. But may be after Edo elections, after we must have emerged victorious, we may speak on some of the issues raised. So there is no problem at all. Edo is the focus for now, and as you know, this is my state, so it is a very serious election for us. I want to be allowed to remain focussed, then after the election, we can speak.”
Recently, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu blasted Oyegun: “Oyegun’s transgressions are a warning. He is but the mercenary of forces that seek to return the nation to the old ways. If they get away with this infraction, no telling what or whom they will undermine tomorrow, much is at stake. On the chopping block lies the future of the political party in which the majority of voters had placed their confidence.”
“To rescue the party, Oyegun must go. He has shown that he and democratic fair play cannot exist in the same party at the same time; the choice has already been made. For those who care about the party, who care about Nigeria and its chance for a better tomorrow, now is the time to stand against this brewing evil before it grows to encompass all we have built and all we hold dear.”
“Contravening the NWC decision and in violation of all rules of fundamental decency, Oyegun decided to safeguard the fraud done in Ondo by perpetrating a greater fraud. Oyegun arrogated to himself the right to submit the name of Rotimi Akeredolu to INEC as the candidate of the party. Certain regressive elements, who joined it as a vehicle to power, have shunned all good restraints after tasting power, unmindful of the fact that their actions would wreck the party they did little to build”.
“These elements who were nurtured on the code of rigging and vote stealing, are in a position to make Nigerians think that there is an alternative to their reactionary system of skewed politics and imperious government. Such a man is Oyegun and those who conspired with him to sabotage justice and democracy in Ondo. Our party was to stand for change. Oyegun and his followers seem to be on a different wave length. They are the cohort of unchange.”
“Oyegun has done the irredeemable. His coup is an insult to party and to patriot, to reason and to the reform agenda of this government. To remain silent would be to admit the defeat of the reform and progressive change many have laboured to bring forth. While the forces resistant to change and reform are strong, Tinubu dare not submit to them. Tinubu encouraged all party members not to submit to them. If we acquiesce in this wrong, the one greater than this shall cascade upon us.”