Politics
Following Tinubu’s Outburst, Oyegun Claps Back
Following Tinubu’s Outburst, Oyegun Claps Back:
The All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman, Chief John Oyegun is clapping back, following an allegation by the party’s National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, that he has breached the party’s good pledges by manipulating the September 3, 2016 Ondo State governorship primaries, which produced Chief Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN) as the party’s candidate.
Speaking in Benin yesterday, Oyegun said:
“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 want us to win because we all have worked hard for this. So, maybe after the election, if there is need, I will speak; if there is 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. So, I want to be allowed to remain focus then after the election, we can speak”.
In reaction to Tinubu’s outbust, Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee on anti-corruption, Prof Itse Sagay (SAN), yesterday said:
“The way I feel about it is that it is a matter that the highest officers of the party should handle. It is not something to be made public. It should not be for the consumption of the public. They should make it a totally in-house matter. They should try and resolve it quietly.”
“The people involved are very mature men and they know the struggle it took to establish the party. I do not think they would do anything that would jeopardize the continued existence of a party that is actually in power. So, it should just be an in-house thing”.
Also reacting, Lagos APC Publicity Secretary, Joe Igbokwe, said:
“When you practice impunity, injustice, denying people their rights to pick a candidate of their choice, it is a problem. This is what the PDP did and you know where it left the party today.
“I was one of the seven-man committee that screened the 24 governorship aspirants in the APC primary election in Ondo State and we did not disqualify anyone of them. We wanted a transparent process because that is what the APC is known for but it did not happen. We had better go back and correct the situation because if we do the same thing the PDP did, we would go down the same way”.
APC Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Timi Frank, in reaction said:
“If Oyegun knows that what Ahmed Bola Tinubu has said is not true, I’m challenging him to immediately call for an emergency NEC meeting for us to sit face to face and tell ourselves where we are getting it wrong because if we cannot resolve this crisis now, we cannot resolve it again.
“None of the resolutions we reached at during the last NEC meeting was implemented. I am giving Oyegun 14 days to convene an emergency NEC meeting and if he fails, we will mobilize protesters that will ground the secretariat,”.
Meanwhile, in less than 24 hours after Tinubu squealed against what he called the high handedness of the NWC led by Oyegun, his anointed candidate in the controversial primary, Olusegun Abraham and certain aggrieved aspirants, who lost the ticket to Akeredolu are smarting to dump the ruling party for an alternative platform.
Following the rejection of recommendations of the three-member Election Appeal Committee chaired by Mrs. Helen Bendega, which called for cancellation of the poll that produced Akeredolu and the submission of his name to INEC by the national chairman, the trio of Olusola Oke, Olusegun Abraham and Senator Ajayi Borrofice, have struck a deal with Tinubu to move into an alternative platform ahead of the November election.
A party source revealed that in the deal in which Tinubu is the alleged mastermind, the former PDP governorship candidate, Oke, who enjoyed the backing of Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola in the controversial primary, would emerge as the candidate of the Action Alliance (AA) while Abraham would be his running mate.
The source further revealed that Senator Borrofice would be compensated with a return ticket to the Senate in 2019 general elections. The AA candidate for the November election, Orokoto who is an ally of Oke, had been taken into confidence in the unfolding power game.
Recall that the APC’s NWC had overruled Mrs. Helen Bendega-led appeal panel report which recommended the cancellation of the primary that produced Akeredolu and sought for a fresh primary.
The panel premised its decision on the alleged irregularities in the list of delegates at the exercise chaired by Jigawa State Governor Badaru Abubakar.
But the Oyegun-led NWC in throwing away the panel report said it “was fundamentally and fatally flawed.”
The party leadership said that the appeal committee contradicted itself when it admitted that the primary election committee substantially complied with the rules guiding the process but still proceeded to recommend the nullification of the primary election.
It further frowned at the failure of the appeal committee to invite the National Secretariat to either authenticate or reject the source of the disputed delegates list as the custodian. It also expressed consternation that the appeal committee, did not invite the chairman or members of the Ondo State Governorship Primary Election Committee to clarify the allegation of manipulation on the accreditation process.
The party said the committee rather relied on unsubstantiated evidence to recommend the nullification of the primary. 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 creating a false impression of over voting in the exercise.”
The party, therefore, stressed that the issue of fresh primaries did not arise since the NWC had already rejected the appeal committee’s report in view of the stated flaws and upheld the election.
It further explained that the election was even time barred, saying by the timetable released by INEC, all governorship primary and issues relating to it ended on September 19, 2016.
Source: DS
read Tinubu’s 25 Paragraph Allegations against Oyegun Here – Oyegun Has Breached APC’s Good Pledges – Tinubu
Politics
Enugu LGA chairman appoints aides on garden egg, pepper, yam
Eric Odo, chairman of Igbo Etiti LGA of Enugu state, has appointed Ezeugwu Ogbonna as senior special assistant on agriculture (yam and pepper).
The appointment is contained in a letter dated November 1 and addressed to Ogbonna.
“I am pleased to inform you that the executive chairman Igbo Etiti LGA has approved your appointment as senior special assistant to the local government chairman on agriculture (yam and pepper),” the letter reads.
“You should report to the executive chairman Igbo Etiti LGA, Ogbede, for briefing and deployment.
“It is pertinent to note that this is not a career civil service appointment but a temporary appointment which you hold at the pleasure of the executive chairman of Igbo Etiti LGA.”
Odo also appointed Nwodo Ugonna as special adviser on garden egg and pepper.
The council chairman did not outline the specific duties of the appointees.
Politics
Ondo guber: Obi, NLC ruined my chances of winning, says LP candidate
Ayodele Olorunfemi, candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the Ondo governorship election, says Peter Obi and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) ruined his chances of winning.
On Sunday, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Lucky Aiyedatiwa, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as winner of the poll.
The governor secured 366,781 votes in all 18 LGAs to defeat his closest rival Agboola Ajayi, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who polled 117,845 votes.
The LP candidate secured 1,162 votes, finishing fifth from bottom in the 17-candidate off-cycle election.
On the eve of the election, INEC substituted Olusola Ebiseni with Olorunfemi.
On September 27, the federal high court in Abuja directed INEC to recognise Ebiseni as the LP candidate.
The party appealed the ruling, and the appellate court struck out the earlier judgment for lack of jurisdiction.
The umpire said it had restored Olorunfemi’s name as the LP candidate in line with the court judgment.
“The commission was yesterday 14th November 2024 served with the certified true copy (CTC) of the judgment of the court of appeal which set aside the judgment of the federal high court (FHC), Abuja division,” the statement reads.
“In obedience to the court order, the commission has restored Olorunfemi Ayodele Festus, whose name was first published as the Labour Party candidate for the 2024 Ondo state governorship election, and uploaded the same to our website for public information.”
In the buildup to the election, Obi endorsed Ebiseni and described him as “someone who believes in a Nigeria rooted in fairness, equity, and justice”.
“It is this conviction that propelled me to travel by road to Ondo state yesterday to campaign alongside our Labour Party Governorship Candidate, Hon. Sola Ebiseni — a candidate I believe possesses the competence and capacity to govern the State effectively,” Obi said.
‘THEY SCUTTLED MY ASPIRATION’
Speaking with PUNCH, Olorunfemi alleged that Obi and NLC sabotaged his governorship bid.
He admitted that his last-minute campaign was poorly organised and ineffectual.
“My campaign for the election was neither here nor there. I have Peter Obi and the NLC to thank for that. They have scuttled my aspirations and chances to win this Ondo election,” Olorunfemi said.
“These people spoilt things for us with that PDP reject they wanted to force on the party. Their insistence on having Ebiseni on the ballot ruined everything for me.
“They just capitalised on the crisis between the Labour Party and the Nigeria Labour Congress to create problems.
“Can you imagine that Ebiseni wrote a letter to the court in my name without my knowledge, saying I have withdrawn from the race? They cannot exclude me from such a position.”
Olorunfemi admitted that he knew his chances of winning were slim after his reinstatement, adding that he is determined to “get his pound of flesh”.
Politics
‘He wanted me to succeed him’ — Aiyedatiwa dedicates victory to Akeredolu
Lucky Aiyedatiwa, Ondo state governor-elect, says he wishes Rotimi Akeredolu, his late principal, was alive to witness his victory.
Aiyedatiwa, the incumbent governor of Ondo, secured victory in all 18 LGAs, garnering 366,781 votes to defeat his closest rival, Agboola Ajayi of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who polled 117,845 votes.
Aiyedatiwa took over the leadership of the state after Akeredolu died from protracted prostate cancer in 2023.
Speaking in an interview on Channels Television after his victory, Aiyedatiwa said Akeredolu wanted him as his successor.
“How I wish he was present in that banquet hall when I was declared in the company of other brother governors. That would have been really good, but God knows better,” he said.
“It is so sad and painful that he didn’t live to see the manifestation of what he himself spoke about. I do refer to him sometimes as the man who saw tomorrow.
“He knew that I was going to succeed him as governor. He knew because he wanted me to and was ready to give me the full backing.”
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