RIGHT OF RESPONSE
By John Odigie-Oyegun
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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