BEVERLY HILLS, October 04, (THEWILL) – John Oyegun, National Chairman of the All progressives Congress (APC), has declared that he cannot be removed from his position in the party on the pages of newspapers.
He made this known on Tuesday after he met with President Muhammadu Buhari at the villa, and was asked by newsmen to comment on his rift with with Bola Tinubu, a National Leader of the party.
Oyegun denied having any rift with Tinubu but admitted to a difference of opinion and perception with the former Lagos state Governor.
“There is no rift with Asiwaju; we have difference of opinion, difference of perception, and I think that is normal,” Oyegun said.
“Yes, I agree that the nature of the statement was a bit harsh. The method of getting rid of a national chairman, if that is what I will call it, are spelt out in the constitution; they don’t take place on the pages of newspapers.”
He declared that the National Executive Committee of the party would meet if it is proper for them to meet adding that they will all meet at the appropriate time and denied that he was behind the youth protest at the APC headquarters against Tinubu.
“God forbid. Anybody who knows me knows that this is not my style. I’m equally shocked and I’m going to look into it and find out why and who is behind it,” he said.
“Do they know how far back our association goes? Do they know that we were in the trenches together in the NADECO days?
“Why can’t people who have mutual respect for each other have different opinions? All we had was difference of opinions. Yes it was expressed a bit harshly but that doesn’t remove the basic fact that we have worked together for a very long time.
On the Edo state governorship election, he declared: “Well it was a hard-fought election; that was clear.
“Two things really. It was more of a referendum first on the performance of the governor, [and] second on the quality of our candidate and most importantly, given the economic situation it was an opportunity for us to measure the continued popularity and acceptability of our president.
“And what it indicated is that by and large the people of this country still have faith, confidence in the fact that if there is any one man that can fix their situation, it is President Muhammadu Buhari.”
THEWILL recalls that Tinubu, on September 25, issued a public statement to demand Oyegun’s resignation citing the manner in which the recommendation of the APC appeal committee, which recommended the annulment of the primary of the party for the November 2016 Ondo state governorship election, won by Rotimi Akeredolu, was overruled.
Story by David Oputah
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