Following the national convention of the All Progressives Congress held
on Friday, cracks have started to appear in the nation’s main opposition party..
Contrary to feelers from the APC that its leaders emerged at the
convention through hitch-free consensus, some notable members of the party have
expressed anger over the manner the leaders emerged, threatening future
actions.
A notable founding member of the party, Chief Tom Ikimi, in an interview
with reporters, denied reports that he conceded the chairmanship position of
the party to the eventual winner, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun.
“I did not willingly step down for Chief Odigie-Oyegun. I was not there.
I did not step down for anybody because I was not there. Whoever said I stepped
down is telling a lie because I was not at the convention. I didn’t
participate. I boycotted the convention,” Ikimi responded, angrily.
Ikimi, a former Minister of Foreign Affairs, was credited as being
instrumental in the merger process of the Action Congress of Nigeria, All
Nigeria Peoples Party, All Progressives Grand Alliance and Congress for
Progressive Change.
It was he who announced the merger of the four political parties to form
the All Progressives Congress.
Ikimi, who was the chairman of the ACN Merger Committee, had said during
the official announcement of the merger and the new name of the party, that the
APC was “a recipe for prosperity”
He said, “At no time in our national life has radical change become more
urgent. And to meet the challenge of that change, we, the following progressive
political parties, namely ACN, ANPP, APGA and CPC, have resolved to merge
forthwith and become the All Progressives Congress and offer to our beleaguered
people a recipe for prosperity”.
He also explained that the new party came about in view of the need to
promote principles of internal democracy and bring about national development.
On what his next line of action will be, following his discontentment
with the convention, he said, “I am preparing a statement which I shall release
in the next few days.”
Also, a former Deputy Governor of Ogun State and member of the Senate,
Adegbenga Kaka, said he did not attend the convention because he was not
officially invited. He said even though he had the privilege to be at the
event, he decided not to attend when he sensed irregularities in the conduct of
the exercise.
He said, “There was no formal invitation and I was not waiting for any
invitation. I perceived injustice and I decided not to go. I was not the only
one; many of us in Ogun State did not go.
“The moment they (APC national leadership) decided not to review the
appeal committee’s report and take action that would unite the party; and they
decided to recognise a faction, then we lost interest in whatever was going on.
“We are waiting. We will do necessary analysis; we will listen and
assess all that transpired (at the convention) and take a decision.”
In Cross River State, a co-chairman of the screening committee, who
resigned to contest for the position of the national Vice Chairman,
South-South, Chief Okoi Obono-Obla, said he would seek redress to correct the
manner in which consensus candidates were picked.
Obono-Obla contested against Mr. Hilliard Eta, who emerged winner as the
consensus candidate for the position zoned to Cross River State.
He lamented that he was not invited to the meeting where Eta was picked
as the consensus candidate.
“What criteria did they use to pick him? Before this convention, a
delegate from the state called to inform me that I should not bother; That Eta
had been picked. Why so,” he queried?
He said although the issue of consensus candidacy was in the party’s
constitution, the manner of picking a candidate should be made more
transparent.
Obono-Obla also alleged that during the convention, a list purported to
have been endorsed by the APC governors, was sent round indicating the chosen
candidates.
He said such a practice was wrong as the fate of contestants whose names
were not on the list were known before the conduct of elections.
He said, “I am thinking of seeking redress. Why should they pass a list
of preferred candidates. What criteria were used?”
Meanwhile, fresh facts have emerged on how a former Governor of Edo
State, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, emerged as the first substantive National
Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, in the early hours of Saturday.
It was learnt that the emergence of Odigie-Oyegun, as the consensus
candidate for the post was an arrangement perfected by the leadership and
executed by the Alhaji Kawu Baraje-led election sub-committee of the first
National Convention Planning Committee, at the Eagle Square, Abuja.
Odigie-Oyegun’s victory was made possible by a powerful lobby led by a
leader of the party, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu. A few hours to the convention, a
former chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Tom Ikimi, was the only
remaining contestant who could not be prevailed upon to step down for Oyegun.
One of the contestants, Chief Sam Jaja, told reporters at the convention
venue that contestants and leaders of the party from the South-South
geo-political zone “agreed to zone the position to Edo State.”
This, he said, reduced the number of strong contenders to two instead of
the initial four, which included him and the former Bayelsa State governor,
Timipre Sylva. He, however, declined further comments on what else transpired
after that.
It was learnt that Ikimi insisted on going ahead with the contest but
could not get a majority of party leaders, who were more disposed to a
consensus arrangement, to support him.
When it became obvious that he was in the minority, he stayed away from
the convention ground to register his displeasure at the turn of events.
In line with an agreement brokered by the party leaders who met at the
Sokoto State Governor’s Lodge, Asokoro for several hours, the candidate of the
APC Governors Forum, who is also a former Governor of Bayelsa State, Mr.
Timipire Sylva, Chief Sam Jaja announced their decision to step down for
Oyegun. This decision sealed the fate of Ikimi as Oyegun was announced as the
sole candidate for the position.
A former governor of Ekiti State, who recently defected from the PDP,
Mr. Segun Oni, emerged as Deputy National Chairman (South), while a former
national secretary of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, Alhaji Lawal
Shuaibu, was also returned unopposed as deputy national chairman (North).
The delegates also elected the interim National Secretary, Alhaji
Ibrahim Bala Gubi, as the substantive National Secretary following the
withdrawal of Alhaji Kashim Imam from the race, while the Interim Publicity
Secretary of the party, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, was returned unopposed to retain
his former position.
However, the process of electing other officers was disrupted by a
downpour, accompanied by strong wind, around 2:00am.
The voting process could not be completed as officers and delegates
scampered to safety as the wind scattered ballot boxes, canopies and the public
address system.
Other notable party members that were absent at the convention were the
former Governor of Ogun State, Chief Segun Osoba, his erstwhile deputy and many
other chieftains of the party from the state.
The reason might not be unconnected with the cold war between Osoba and
Governor Ibikunle Amosun on who should control the structure of the party.
Some APC senators, who did not attend the convention, expressed mixed
feelings over the consensus arrangement that produced the national officers of
the party.
Some believe the development could force some members, perceived to be
advocates of primaries, to leave the party.
A serving Senator from Ogun State, who preferred anonymity, said he
shunned the convention in agreement with his colleagues because of the decision
of some leaders in the state to hijack the structure of the party.
But the Oyo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress has said that
it is satisfied with the conduct of the convention and the emergence of John Oyegun
as the new national chairman.
Speaking with our correspondent on Saturday in Ibadan, the Chairman of
the party in Oyo State, Akin Oke, who was at the convention, said, “We are
satisfied with the election of Oyegun as APC National Chairman. He is a
democrat and a man of clear vision of how an ideal nation should look like.
Among the candidates that vied for the position, he was the most acceptable. We
have confidence in him because in the days of the Social Democratic Party
(defunct) we worked with him and we are satisfied with his leadership
qualities.”
Similarly, the former military administrator of Rivers State, Mr. Sam
Ewang, has commended the APC for organising a congress that was acceptable to
members of the party.
Ewang said, “I am happy about last Friday’s APC congress. The congress
met my expectation. I believe things are going to take a new turn completely.
Whatever that are needed to be corrected are going to be corrected and that is
my joy.”