John Odigie Oyegun, the national chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, has finally responded directly to the call by erstwhile national leaders of the party, Bola Tinubu for his resignation.
“The method 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,” Oyegun told journalists after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari in Aso Rock.
Tinubu had accused Oyegun of betraying the trust of party members when he submitted the name of Rotimi Akeredolu to INEC as APC governorship candidate for November’s poll in Ondo despite the allegations that the primary was marred by fraud and a majority of NWC members wanted it cancelled. The APC national leader described the chairman as a mole.
Oyegun conceded to journalists on Tuesday, October 4, 2016 that Tinubu’s tone was “a bit too harsh” but said there was no rift between the two of them as they only had a “difference of opinion.”
“We have differences of opinion, differences of perception and I think that is normal. Yes, I agree that the nature of the statement was a bit harsh,” he said.
Asked whether the party would reverse its decision on the Ondo election primaries, since it was causing crisis in the party, Mr. Oyegun said, “It is only INEC that can make U-turn on Ondo”.
On allegations that he sponsored some youth who protested at the party’s headquarters against the alleged highhandedness of Mr. Tinubu, the APC national chairman said, “God forbid, anybody who knows me knows that that is not my style. I’m equally shocked and I’m going to look into it and find out why and who is behind it”.
Asked if the handshake and pleasantries shared with Mr. Tinubu at Buhari’s book launch were genuine, he replied, “Do they 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”.
