Charles Idahosa, a chieftain of
the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former Commissioner of Information in
Edo State, has said President Muhammadu Buhari is running the federal
government with a divided party.
He also said that the APC under
John Odigie-Oyegun is weak but the Party’s National Chairman ‘plays the
ostrich’ just to keep his job and continue to enjoy the perks of his office as
APC chair.
Speaking with Independent, the
APC Chieftain said: “Nigerians must understand that we are running a government
with a divided party. How do you explain a situation where APC as the ruling
party has majority in the National Assembly yet it could not influence who
became Senate President and Speaker of the House of Reps?
“The people the party wanted lost
out in both chambers and a member of the opposition (Ike Ekweremadu) is Deputy
Senate President today. From this, you can see that the leadership of the APC
has failed us woefully. We have not been able to put our house in order. But I
don’t think the president has chosen to remain silent on the report. Very soon,
I am sure action will be taken on it.
“We have a situation where Dino
Melaye, an APC senator from Kogi state is fighting the state governor, another
APC member to a standstill and the party cannot move in and call them to other.
It is very embarrassing. We will only be deceiving ourselves if we say the
party is not divided.
“The APC is in tatters and the
leadership is so weak. Look at the issue of Timi Frank, the Deputy National
Publicity Secretary. The National Publicity secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed
became a Minister, everyone expect his deputy to have taken over from him but
they went and brought another man (Bolaji Abdullahi) as his replacement.
“When we say APC leadership under
Oyegun is weak, we know what we are talking about. I am older than Oyegun in
politics. When I joined the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) in 1980, Oyegun was
still in civil service. The fact that you become national chairman does not
make you superior or make you think you have more experience than others.
“I know Oyegun very well. He is a
Benin man like me. He is not old enough to be my father; the highest he can be
is my senior brother and I am very close to his younger brother because we all
went to school together. Because I know him does not mean I will now lie and
say he is doing well. He is not performing well as national chairman. He is not
doing the job he was elected to do. He went on a platform to become national
chairman, now that he is there, he is now running to powers that be in order to
secure his job. That is what is called sycophancy. He is now a friend of the
president. The president didn’t bring you. The president did not bring his
vice, Prof. Osinbajo. Everybody in that cabinet was brought by one respective
leader or another.
“He (Oyegun) knows where he is
coming from but to keep his job now, everything is right. People are suggesting
practical ways to ensure that APC continues as the ruling party in 2019, all
Oyegun keeps saying is ‘Buhari must re-contest; ‘ I will fast and pray to make
sure Buhari runs again’. Even when the president was sick and was in hospital,
all Oyegun keeps saying is ‘Buhari 2019’ yet he wants us to be clapping for
him? That is sycophancy and I don’t like it.
“Buhari has a right to decide
whether to seek re-election or not. What will Oyegun do if Buhari says I am not
running? I hate people who are sycophants. Oyegun knew what we did to make him
national chairman. Tom Ikimi had already gone unopposed from Edo state. We had
to call a State Working Committee meeting to say there is another person from
Edo state who is interested in the position. I spoke to the state chairman of
APC who is still alive; I spoke to then governor, Adams Oshiomhole that this is
what we should do because we are not very sure of Ikimi.”
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