By Ogbuefi Blogs
It was not only the former Minister of Foreign Affairs and a
founding member of opposition All Progressive Congress, Chief Tom
Ikimi; a former Deputy Governor of Ogun State and member of the Senate,
Adegbenga Kaka; co-chairman of the screening committee, Chief Okoi Obono-Obla, and several other
notable members of the party that were angry over the manner the new leaders
emerged, even the gods got visibly angry at the way Former governor of Lagos
State imposed his candidates as National officers of the All Progressives
Congress at the national convention of the opposition party held on Friday at
Eagle Square, Abuja.
This became apparent as midway into the imposition of
candidates, strong downpour, accompanied by strong wind, disrupted the
proceedings around 2:00am and 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.
After the convention, it became apparent that all the reports
of former PDP governors effort to whittle down the power and influence of
Asiwaju Tinubu in the mega-party has come to nought as the master strategist
made sure that no candidate without his blessing emerged as winner in any of
the coveted posts.
However, immediately after former Governor of Edo State, and
Tinubu's ally, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, emerged as the first substantive
National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, in the early hours of Saturday,
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 Tinubu's Action Congress of Nigeria, Alhaji Lawal Shuaibu, was
also returned unopposed as deputy national chairman (North), 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 and another friend of Bola Tinubu,
Alhaji Lai Mohammed, was returned unopposed to retain his former position;
The process of electing other officers was disrupted by a
downpour, accompanied by strong wind.
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
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 the unopposed leader of the party, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu. A few hours to
the convention, Chief Tom Ikimi, was the only remaining contestant who could
not be prevailed upon by Tinubu to step down for Oyegun.
At the convention, an elated Bola Tinubu obviously satisfied
at the way his plan to get all candidates appointed by consensus without an
election declared: "No one is more elated than me here today at this
convention ground. No more is history in the making. History has been made the
formation and now the first national convention of the All Progressives
Congress, APC. I welcome you all to HISTORY!"
Asiwaju Bola Tinubu said: When the wind of change blows,
it sweeps clean! He floored other leadership pretenders including Buhari, El
rufai, Rotimi Amaechi, Atiku Abubakar and Rabiu Kwankwaso
However, contrary to the assertion 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 a Punch correspondents, 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.
In 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?”
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.
Ogbuefi Ndigbo
+7460770987
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