Oyegun Formally Replies Tinubu: "Your Allegations Are Reckless And False"
The National Chairman of the governing All progressives
Congress, APC, John Odigie-Oyegun, has formally replied a national
leader of the party, Bola Tinubu, who accused him of fraud and
dictatorship in his handling of the party’s affairs.
Mr. Oyegun said Mr. Tinubu’s public letter contained “reckless falsehood.”
The
national chairman issued a statement on Friday in which he attempted to
respond to all the allegations raised by the former Lagos State
governor.
Read below the full statement by Mr. Odigie-Oyegun:
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).
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