Following calls by the National Leader of All Progressives
Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu requesting the National Chairman, John
Odigie-Oyegun to resign he accused him od handling the affairs of the party in a dictatorial manner and engaging in fraud in the handling of affairs of the party, Oyegun
has now officially replied Tinubu calling his allegations baseless and “reckless falsehood.”
Here is Mr. Odigie-Oyegun's full statement:
THE FACTS – 2016 ONDO STATE APC GOVERNORSHIP ELECTION PRIMARIES
The outcome of the All Progressives Congress (APC) 2016 Ondo State
Governorship Primary Election has led to disagreements among some Party
stakeholders in the state and at the national level. The ripples from
the controversy over the election have unfortunately dragged our great
party on to the front pages of newspapers for the wrong reasons.
Recently, the media office of Bola Tinubu falsely and recklessly
accused me of corruption, rigging the outcome of the 2016 Ondo State APC
governorship election primaries and overruling the Party’s National
Working Committee (NWC) “vote” on the 2016 Ondo State APC Governorship
Primary Election Appeal Committee Report.
In view of the misinformation and false reports that have been fed
to the media and that have pervaded the public space, there is need to
set the records straight. Below are factual responses to the salient
points and allegations made by the media office of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed
Tinubu in its statement.
ALLEGATION
The media office of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in its statement
alleged that I overruled the NWC’s vote of “six against five” in favour
of cancelling the primary election results and conducting another
primary.
FACT
According to the minutes of the 18th emergency meeting of the APC
NWC held from Monday 19th September 2016 to Thursday 22nd September,
2016 at the Party’s National Secretariat in Abuja, there was absolutely
no meeting which I chaired that voted in the manner alleged. Clearly,
the report on which the media office of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu acted
was a figment of someone’s wild imagination.
On Thursday 22nd September, 2016 being the final day for submission
of candidate by Political Parties, the NWC discussed the possibility of
voting having finished deliberation on the2016 Ondo State APC
Governorship Primary Election Appeal Committee Report because members in
support of cancelling the Primary results were still strident in their
position.
A member of the NWC however drew the attention of the meeting to
its previous decision in which the report of the Primary Election
Committee was adopted while the Appeal Committee was set aside. The
implication of this decision he reasoned was that a decision to submit
the name of the winner of the primary election was already taken unless
the NWC will now wish to reconsider its earlier decision.
I agreed with this and ruled that the previous decision of the NWC be upheld.
ALLEGATION
The media office of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in its statement also
alleged that the names of “over 150 valid delegates were excised to
make room for an equal number of impostors”.
FACT
The Ondo State approved delegates list was compiled in strict
compliance with the Party’s constitution. Only qualified delegates were
included in the list. Moreso, none of the aspirants or the Appeal
Committee has submitted to NWC a list of delegates who were not
qualified to be included in the delegates list but were listed as
delegates or presumed qualified delegates who were not included in the
delegates list used for the Primary.
ALLEGATION
The media office of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in its statement
alleged that I used a “prayer interlude” which I initiated to “secretly
excuse” myself from the NWC meeting to submit the name of Rotimi
Akeredolu, SAN, to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)
as the candidate of the Party.
FACT
The allegation is high fiction and an insult to the intelligence
and sensibility of the respected NWC members present at the meeting. We
do not and have never engaged in prayer interludes/sessions outside the
usual opening and closing prayers. The prayer that is being referred to
must be the closing prayer for the meeting.
ALLEGATION
The media office of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in its statement
accused me of bribery and corruption over the outcome of the Ondo State
APC governorship election primaries.“Oyegun has dealt a heavy blow to
the very party he professes to lead. It is an awful parent who
suffocates his own child for the sake of a few naira.” The statement
issued by media office of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu read.
FACT
This reckless and baseless corruption allegation levelled against
me is unfortunate and an insult to my person and my hard-earned
reputation which I have strongly maintained. Nobody has the kind of
money that can buy my conscience or make me do injury to an innocent
man. In all the primaries conducted under my watch as National Chairman,
I have strived to ensure a free, fair, transparent and credible
process. The 2016 Ondo State APC Governorship Primary Election was not
an exception. There must be internal democracy in the Party and our
constitution must be respected by all.
APPEAL COMMITTEE REPORT
The Party’s NWC decision to reject the 2016 Ondo State APC
Governorship Primary Election Appeal Committee Report was taken on
Tuesday, September 20, 2016 in executive session after careful and
exhaustive deliberations. The minutes and rejection were confirmed by
the NWC on Thursday, September 22, 2016.
The NWC in its four-point resolution rejected the Appeal
Committee’s recommendation on the grounds that the report was
fundamentally and fatally flawed. The NWC observed that the Appeal
Committee contradicted itself when it admitted in its report, “In making
the above recommendations one is not unmindful of the fact that there
may have been substantial compliance in the conduct of the exercise.”
but still proceeded to recommend the nullification of the Primary
election.
The NWC in its four-point resolution faulted the failure of the
Appeal Committee to invite the National Secretariat as the custodian, to
authenticate or otherwise the source of the disputed delegates list.
Also, the Appeal Committee did not invite the Chairman or members of the
Ondo State Governorship Primary Election Committee to clarify issues
relating to the allegation of manipulation of the accreditation process.
The Appeal Committee rather relied totally on unsubstantiated
evidence(s) in the petitions it received to recommend the nullification
of the Primary. This is against the principle of natural justice and
fair hearing.
The NWC equally observed a serious contradiction in the Appeal
Committee’s report in respect of the number of the accredited delegates.
Whereas the Primary Election Committee’s report indicated that 2,774
delegates were accredited, the Appeal Committee’s report erroneously
recorded it as those who voted in the election, thereby acting under the
false impression that there was over voting in the exercise. The actual
total number of votes cast was 2,754, as clearly recorded in the
Primary Election Committee’s report.
The issue of fresh primaries did not arise as NWC had already
rejected the Appeal Committee’s report in view of the stated flaws and
upheld the election. In any case, any fresh primary was already time
barred. By the timetable released by the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC), all governorship primaries and issues related ended
on September 19, 2016.
Also, voting on the issue became unnecessary and never took place
in view of the NWC’s rejection of the Appeal Committee’s report.
The foregoing are facts backed by the minutes approved by all NWC
members that attended the meetings held in respect of 2016 Ondo State
APC Governorship Primary Election Appeal Committee Report.
It needs to be stated categorically that the NWC is confident that
the Chairman of the Ondo State APC Governorship Primary Election
Committee, Abubakar Badaru, Executive Governor of Jigawa State conducted
a credible and exemplary exercise. We indeed commend the Governor and
his team for their transparency and the free and fair manner the
primaries was conducted.
Going forward, I appeal very passionately to leaders and members of
the Party at all levels to explore internal dispute resolution
mechanisms in addressing their perceived grievances instead of resorting
to the media to vent their spleen.
There are enormous challenges in delivering on the Party’s 2015
election promises to Nigerians. On the immediate horizon is the task of
winning the governorship election in Ondo state. We cannot afford to be
distracted by the present contentions.
I wish to assure Party members that despite the media attention
that has been generated by the disagreements in the aftermath of the
2016 Ondo State Governorship Primary Election, the Party is focused on
the task ahead and we urge our Party leaders and teeming supporters to
also remain calm. The Party has already commenced wide consultations
with stakeholders with a view to resolving the political differences
that still exist. Hurling brickbats cannot help the cause of the party
in any way.
The APC national leadership remains united and solidly committed to
the task of winning the Ondo state governorship election to save the
people of the state from the misrule of the Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP).
No comments:
Post a Comment