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A former Governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu, has accused the ruling
All Progressives Congress, APC, of perpetrating “injustice”, saying he
would rather not hold the honorary title of “national leader” in such a
party.
“I would rather not have any title yet reside in a party that honours
democracy than hold a title in a party that says it honours me but that
treats justice with indecency,” Mr. Tinubu said in an explosive statement on Sunday, in which he chronicled the alleged political sins of the party’s national chairman, John Oyegun.
Mr. Tinubu had been accorded the position following the critical role
he played in the emergence of the APC as a major challenger to the
then-ruling Peoples Democratic Party’s decades-long hold on power.
Mr. Tinubu said Mr. Oyegun favoured a candidate in the APC
gubernatorial primaries in Ondo State and forced his choice through
using a sleight of hand.
“A conspiracy to steal the Ondo primary had been uncovered.
Fortunately, the grand deception afoot had been unable to cover its
tracks fast enough. Truth began to cry for justice,” he said.
“Several candidates filed petitions contesting the result. The party
established an investigative board to review the evidence. In a two to
one decision, the panel found the delegate roster had suffered
tampering. The panel recommended that a new primary should be held using
the valid delegate list. This recommendation was tabled before the
National Working Committee (NWC).
“After many hours of deliberations spanning several days, a final
vote was held by the NWC. Beforehand, NWC members agreed that the
decision of the majority would become the stance of the party. Such is
the way of democracy. The NWC voted six against five to cancel the
fraudulent results and hold an honest primary. For a moment, it seemed
the party would restore its integrity by giving democracy a chance.
However, those who sought to scam an entire state would not let the vote
of 11 people spoil their enterprise.
“After the NWC vote, a noticeably agitated Chairman Oyegun proposed
the NWC engage in prayer before concluding the meeting. Adhering to this
chairman’s request, NWC members began to pray. Seeing that the others
had taken his bait, Oyegun used the prayerful interlude to secretly
excuse himself from the meeting. 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,” Mr. Tinubu said.
Mr. Tinubu said this had shown that there was an evil and regressive
force within the APC using Mr. Oyegun to derail the party’s democratic
and progressive tenets.
He said he deliberately excused himself from occupying official
positions within the APC in order to avoid being accused of
meddlesomeness as part of his relentless sacrifices, but even this had
been taken for granted by those in his ranks.
“Tinubu has consciously refused to hold any official position with
the party to avoid the perception that he was trying to control all and
sundry. Tinubu has even kept his peace for some time despite many things
that happened within the party that were not quite right. He exercised
this forbearance because the party is young. A collective endeavour
cannot avoid the mistakes and errors of organizational newness and
evolution.
“Yet, the wrongs Oyegun committed had nothing to do with newness or
the mistakes occasioned by the path of reform. His actions are in the
nature of the old wrongs that have afflicted our national politics much
too long. If Oyegun wants to walk backward into the past, he has every
right to it. However, he has no right to drag the party or any of us
with him. Against our choosing.”
Mr. Tinubu said he was dissociating himself from the honorary title
which the party’s top echelon had accorded him since APC was formed in
2013.
“The informal title of national leader of the party was given to
Tinubu at the onset which he accepted it as a sign from those who wished
to recognize my contributions to the party’s formation. It is an
honorific title which he has been proud to wear until today,” Mr. Tinubu
said. “I would rather not have any title yet reside in a party that
honours democracy than hold a title in a party that says it honours me
but that treats justice with indecency. I find greater honour and
comfort where democracy and fairness are found and respected.”
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PLEASE BE POLITE