Edo Update: If you know where they’re bribing voters, tell me so I can go get my share - Oyegun

Chief John Odigie Oyegun After Casting His Vote today

TheCable - Chief John Odigie Oyegun, , national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), jocularly told journalists on Wednesday that he was ready to get his own share of financial inducement of voters participating in the Edo state governorship election.

There have been reports of voting in exchange for money — TheCable witnessed one — although it was not immediately clear which political party was responsible.

Addressing reporters after casting his ballot at Ward 2, Unit 2, Staff Training Center, Okada Avenue, Benin, Oyegun said it would be difficult to identify those bribing voters.

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“When you look at a place like this, you don’t know who has been given money or who has not,” he said.

“How do you know that somebody has been given money? The way it is, nobody will know who you voted for. Please, is there somebody sharing money, let me go there and collect my own.”

He described the turnout as very impressive, saying “it is a sign that something good is about to happen”.

“I have always voted here, and this is the best turnout that I have ever seen,” he said.

“This is even the largest number of journalists that I will address in this place. This presumes that something good is about to happen.

“People are keen to express their civic rights and this shows that democracy has become widespread. It’s a very good development. It has been peaceful so far; I have been monitoring on the television.

“The security arrangement has been absolute. As the national chairman of the party, the issue of security has been of great concern to us and all the security agencies gave us the assurance that there would be no incident, at least no major incident.”

The exercise is going on smoothly across the state. Voters started trooping to their polling units as early as 6:30am, and the electoral officials arrived in time.

By the arrangement of the Independent National Electoral Commission, voting will stop at 2pm.

Resignation Call By Tinubu: Oyegun Fights Back

The Daily Sun - National Chairman,  the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun is fighting back following an allegation by the national leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, that he manipulated the September 3, 2016 Ondo State governorship primary. The election produced Chief Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN) as the party’s candidate.

Odigie-Oyegun said yesterday that most of Tinubu’s accusations are untrue.

Tinubu had in a statement sent out by his media office on Sunday called on the APC chair to resign, among other things. Odigie-Oyegun said he would meet with President Muhammadu Buhari before he would fully reply Tinubu.

Tinubu accused Odigie-Oyegun of colluding with mercenary forces to derail democracy and the change promised Nigerians.

Tinubu specifically said the APC chairman connived with some dark forces to rig the delegates’ list used for the September 3, primary of the party won by Akeredolu. The statement detailed how Odigie-Oyegun allegedly conspired against the party’s National Working Committee (NWC), disregarded majority decision on a fresh primary and sneaked out of a meeting to submit Akeredolu’s name as the APC candidate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

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The NWC, acting on the recommendations of its Appeals Committee, allegedly voted six to five, in favour of cancellation of the primary, citing fraud in the delegates list.

“…Odigie-Oyegun has done the irredeemable,” Tinubu said.

Speaking in Benin yesterday, Odigie-Oyegun said he would not fully respond to the allegations until after the governorship election in Edo State, even as he explained that most of the things said against him were not true.

“Asiwaju is a well respected leader of our party so, I cannot be seen speaking evil against him. I have to consult properly with other leaders of the party before we make any definite statement. Again, you know we have a crucial election here in Edo which is my priority right now.

“We don’t want to lose focus and I know Asiwaju also want us to win because we all have worked hard for this. So, maybe after the election, if there is need, I will speak; if (there is) no need, I will relax. But, all I can say now is that most of the things said in the papers about me are not true. I have always believed in internal democracy, that the credibility of primaries must be taken seriously.

“I believe that if primaries of parties are not credible, it may derail any democracy so, I don’t play with these things at all. Everybody knows me and I don’t joke with my credibility and I have tried to maintain it. Like I said, Asiwaju is our leader and we all hold him in high esteem, so, I will never join issues with him.

“But may be after Edo elections, after we must have emerged victorious, we may speak on some of the issues raised. So, there is no problem at all. Edo is the focus for now and as you know this is my state so it is a very serious election for us. So, I want to be allowed to remain focus then after the election, we can speak”, he said.

Daily Sun, however, gathered on Monday evening that although Odigie-Oyegun perused Tinubu’s 25-paragraph statement same day it was released, any action or full response will wait till after he has done two things: Meet with the President and conclusion of Edo State governorship election tomorrow. He was governor of the state on the platform of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP).

Reacting to Tinubu’s outbust, Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee on anti-corruption, Prof Itse Sagay (SAN), yesterday urged top APC leaders to resolve the crisis threatening to tear the party apart after its governorship primary  in Ondo State.

Sagay urged the leadership of the party not to do anything that would jeopardise the interest of the APC, saying the crisis should be resolved quietly by the top hierarchy of the party.

His words: “The way I feel about it is that it is a matter that the highest officers of the party should handle. It is not something to be made public. It should not be for the consumption of the public. They should make it a totally in-house matter. They should try and resolve it quietly.”

On whether it is the beginning of the end of the APC, he said: “I hope not. The people involved are very mature men and they know the struggle it took to establish the party. I do not think they would do anything that would jeopardise the continued existence of a party that is actually in power. So, it should just be an in-house thing”.

Also reacting, Lagos APC Publicity Secretary, Joe Igbokwe, cautioned that the party should not toe the line of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

He said some of the things that happened in the Ondo primary were similar issues that led to the fall of the PDP in the last general election.

“When you practise impunity, injustice, denying people their rights to pick a candidate of their choice, it is a problem. This is what the PDP did and you know where it left the party today.

“I was one of the seven-man committee that screened the 24 governorship aspirants in the APC primary election in Ondo State and we did not disqualify anyone of them. We wanted a transparent process because that is what the APC is known for but it did not happen. We had better go back and correct the situation because if we do the same thing the PDP did, we would go down the same way”, he said.

On his part, APC Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Timi Frank, has given Odigie-Oyegun, a 14-day ultimatum to convene an emergency National Executive Council (NEC) meeting to clean the mess.

Frank urged the President to intervene in the crisis. He warned that he has started the process of mobilising other NEC members for the emergency meeting, warning that they would ground the secretariat with protesters should Odigie-Oyegun fail to convene the meeting.

Fielding questions from journalists in Abuja, Frank, who noted that Tinubu’s call has vindicated his persistent demand, maintained that the party is heading for disaster with Oyegun’s continuation.

According to him; “If Odigie-Oyegun knows that what Ahmed Bola Tinubu has said is not true, I’m challenging him to immediately call for an emergency NEC meeting for us to sit face to face and tell ourselves where we are getting it wrong because if we cannot resolve this crisis now, we cannot resolve it again.

“None of the resolutions we reached at during the last NEC meeting was implemented. I am giving Odigie-yegun 14 days to convene an emergency NEC meeting and if he fails, we will mobilise protesters that will ground the secretariat,” he said.

Meanwhile, less than 24 hours after Tinubu squealed against what he called the high handedness of the  NWC led by Odigie-Oyegun, his anointed candidate in the controversial primary, Olusegun Abraham and certain aggrieved aspirants, who lost the ticket to Akeredolu are smarting to dump the ruling party for an alternative platform, Daily Sun can authoritatively reveal.

Following the rejection of recommendations of the three-member Election Appeal Committee chaired by Mrs. Helen Bendega, which called for cancellation of the poll that produced Akeredolu and the submission of his name to INEC by the national chairman, the trio of Olusola Oke, Olusegun Abraham and Senator Ajayi Borrofice, have struck a deal with Tinubu to move into an alternative platform ahead of the November election.

A party source revealed that in the deal in which Tinubu is the alleged mastermind, the former PDP governorship candidate, Oke, who enjoyed the backing of Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola in the controversial primary, would emerge as the candidate of the Action Alliance (AA)  while Abraham would be his running mate.

The source further revealed that Senator Borrofice would be compensated with a return ticket to the Senate in 2019 general elections.

The AA candidate for the November election, Orokoto who is an ally of Oke, had been taken into confidence in the unfolding power game.

Recall that the APC’s NWC had overruled Mrs. Helen Bendega-led appeal panel report which recommended the cancellation of the primary that produced Akeredolu and sought for a fresh primary.

The panel premised its decision on the alleged irregularities in the list of delegates at the exercise chaired by Jigawa State Governor Badaru Abubakar.

But the Odigie-Oyegun-led NWC in throwing away the panel report said it “was fundamentally and fatally flawed.”

The party leadership said that the appeal committee contradicted itself when it admitted that the primary election committee substantially complied with the rules guiding the process but still proceeded to recommend the nullification of the primary election.

It further frowned at the failure of the appeal committee to invite the National Secretariat to either authenticate or reject the source of the disputed delegates list as the custodian.

It also expressed consternation that the appeal committee, did not invite the chairman or members of the Ondo State Governorship Primary Election Committee to clarify the allegation of manipulation on the accreditation process.

The party said the committee rather relied on unsubstantiated evidence to recommend the nullification of the primary.

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 creating a false impression of over voting in the exercise.”

The party, therefore, stressed that the issue of fresh primaries did not arise since the NWC had already rejected the appeal committee’s report in view of the stated flaws and upheld the election.

It further explained that the election was even time barred, saying by the timetable released by INEC, all governorship primary and issues relating to it ended on September 19, 2016

APC Crisis: Angry Tinubu Dumps 'National Leadership' Title

A former Governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu, has accused the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, of perpetrating “injustice”, saying he would rather not hold the honorary title of “national leader” in such a party.

“I would rather not have any title yet reside in a party that honours democracy than hold a title in a party that says it honours me but that treats justice with indecency,” Mr. Tinubu said in an explosive statement on Sunday, in which he chronicled the alleged political sins of the party’s national chairman, John Oyegun.

Mr. Tinubu had been accorded the position following the critical role he played in the emergence of the APC as a major challenger to the then-ruling Peoples Democratic Party’s decades-long hold on power.

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Mr. Tinubu said Mr. Oyegun favoured a candidate in the APC gubernatorial primaries in Ondo State and forced his choice through using a sleight of hand.

“A conspiracy to steal the Ondo primary had been uncovered. Fortunately, the grand deception afoot had been unable to cover its tracks fast enough. Truth began to cry for justice,” he said.

“Several candidates filed petitions contesting the result. The party established an investigative board to review the evidence. In a two to one decision, the panel found the delegate roster had suffered tampering. The panel recommended that a new primary should be held using the valid delegate list. This recommendation was tabled before the National Working Committee (NWC).

“After many hours of deliberations spanning several days, a final vote was held by the NWC. Beforehand, NWC members agreed that the decision of the majority would become the stance of the party. Such is the way of democracy. The NWC voted six against five to cancel the fraudulent results and hold an honest primary. For a moment, it seemed the party would restore its integrity by giving democracy a chance. However, those who sought to scam an entire state would not let the vote of 11 people spoil their enterprise.

“After the NWC vote, a noticeably agitated Chairman Oyegun proposed the NWC engage in prayer before concluding the meeting. Adhering to this chairman’s request, NWC members began to pray. Seeing that the others had taken his bait, Oyegun used the prayerful interlude to secretly excuse himself from the meeting. Contravening the NWC decision and in violation of all rules of fundamental decency, Oyegun decided to safeguard the fraud done in Ondo by perpetrating a greater fraud. Oyegun arrogated to himself the right to submit the name of Rotimi Akeredolu to INEC as the candidate of the party,” Mr. Tinubu said.

Mr. Tinubu said this had shown that there was an evil and regressive force within the APC using Mr. Oyegun to derail the party’s democratic and progressive tenets.

He said he deliberately excused himself from occupying official positions within the APC in order to avoid being accused of meddlesomeness as part of his relentless sacrifices, but even this had been taken for granted by those in his ranks.

“Tinubu has consciously refused to hold any official position with the party to avoid the perception that he was trying to control all and sundry. Tinubu has even kept his peace for some time despite many things that happened within the party that were not quite right. He exercised this forbearance because the party is young. A collective endeavour cannot avoid the mistakes and errors of organizational newness and evolution.

“Yet, the wrongs Oyegun committed had nothing to do with newness or the mistakes occasioned by the path of reform. His actions are in the nature of the old wrongs that have afflicted our national politics much too long. If Oyegun wants to walk backward into the past, he has every right to it. However, he has no right to drag the party or any of us with him. Against our choosing.”

Mr. Tinubu said he was dissociating himself from the honorary title which the party’s top echelon had accorded him since APC was formed in 2013.

“The informal title of national leader of the party was given to Tinubu at the onset which he accepted it as a sign from those who wished to recognize my contributions to the party’s formation. It is an honorific title which he has been proud to wear until today,” Mr. Tinubu said. “I would rather not have any title yet reside in a party that honours democracy than hold a title in a party that says it honours me but that treats justice with indecency. I find greater honour and comfort where democracy and fairness are found and respected.”

Premium Times    

Also read: Tinubu and those who want him dead, By Femi Fani-Kayode

Ondo APC Debacle: ...And Tinubu BOMBS Oyegun | See Full Text

OYEGUN’S ONDO FRAUD: THE VIOLATION OF DEMOCRACY IN THE APC

The APC, a party born of the quest for democratic good governance, is under critical threat by those who managed to be in the party but never of it. From the party’s inception, the principles of democratic fairness and justice were to guide APC internal deliberations. Party founders realized that only by intramural fair dealing could the party remain faithful to the progressive ideals that we presented to the Nigerian electorate as our governing creed. If the party could not justly govern itself, it would find it difficult to establish and maintain just government throughout the nation.

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In essence, the party was the embodiment of a democratic promise made between its members as well as a democratic vow made to the public. Evidently, some errant members believe promises and vows are mere words to be easily spoken and more easily broken. Chairman John Oyegun has breached these good pledges in a most overt and brazen display. In doing so, 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 party was supposed to buttress APC members elected to government at all levels. Because of Oyegun’s conduct of our affairs, the party is rapidly becoming an albatross to those it was meant to help.

Oyegun’s comportment regarding the Ondo State primacy will become the textbook definition of political treachery and malfeasance of the basest order. In early September, the state primary was held. A purported winner was named. Having faith in the ways of the party, Tinubu publicly accepted what he assumed to be a verdict honestly derived. As a democrat, one must face the possibility of defeat and accept such as outcome with as much grace as one would embrace victory. One of the few bright spots during the conduct of the primaries was Jigawa Governor, Alhaji Mohammed Badaru Abubakar

He chaired the primary convention with decorum and impartiality. He was unaware that a tampered list had been slipped into the process.

Indeed within hours of the announcement, news began to filter in that gravely disturbed me. Credible allegations of fraud troubled the waters. The delegate list had been materially altered by someone in a strategic position to so do. The names of over 150 valid delegates were excised to make room for an equal number of impostors. This was not a clerical error. The alteration was willfully executed that the primary would be directed toward a chosen end that bore nothing in common with the will of most state party members. A cunning few had tried to deceive the many into believing they were outnumbered.

A conspiracy to steal the Ondo primary had been uncovered. Fortunately, the grand deception afoot had been unable to cover its tracks fast enough. Truth began to cry for justice.

Several candidates filed petitions contesting the result. The party established an investigative board to review the evidence. In a two to one decision, the panel found the delegate roster had suffered tampering. The panel recommended that a new primary should be held using the valid delegate list. This recommendation was tabled before the National Working Committee (NWC).

After many hours of deliberations spanning several days, a final vote was held by the NWC. Before hand, NWC members agreed that the decision of the majority would become the stance of the party. Such is the way of democracy. The NWC voted six against five to cancel the fraudulent results and hold an honest primary. For a moment, it seemed the party would restore its integrity by giving democracy a chance. However, those who sought to scam an entire state would not let the vote of 11 people spoil their enterprise.

After the NWC vote, a noticeably agitated Chairman Oyegun proposed the NWC engage in prayer before concluding the meeting. Adhering to this chairman’s request, NWC members began to pray. Seeing that the others had taken his bait, Oyegun used the prayerful interlude to secretly excuse himself from the meeting. Contravening the NWC decision and in violation of all rules of fundamental decency, Oyegun decided to safeguard the fraud done in Ondo by perpetrating a greater fraud. Oyegun arrogated to himself the right to submit the name of Rotimi Akeredolu to INEC as the candidate of the party.

Truth has finally come to light. There exists a regressive element in the party that cares nothing for the progressive ideas upon which this party was founded. They joined the APC because it was the best ride available at the time. Now they want to guide the party into the ditch. They want to turn the party into a soulless entity incapable of doing good, just like they are. When such a person tastes power, they shed all good restraint. They come to abuse the trust given them as if they are the owners of that trust and not its mere custodians. These people did little to build the party but now will do much to wreck it.

Such a man is Oyegun and those who conspired with him to sabotage justice and democracy in Ondo. Our party was to stand for change. Oyegun and his fellows seem to be on a different wave length. They are the cohort of Unchange. The APC wants to guide Nigeria into a better tomorrow. Oyegun and the cohort of unchange want to pull Nigeria back into the past where rigging and vote stealing were the old and new testaments of politics. They want the people to think that there is no alternative to their reactionary system of skewed politics and imperious government. Thus, they seek to turn the APC into a factory of the very political malpractices the people soundly rejected in the past election. To choke the APC in this manner is to kill the chance for progressive reform for the foreseeable future. Much more than the Ondo primary is at stake. Oyegun has revealed his team’s game plan: It is the destruction of progressive politics and governance on behalf of the people.

As party chairman, Oyegun was supposed to protect our internal processes and be an impartial arbiter, a person in whom all had confidence. Instead, he donned the garment of a confident man, duping the NWC, the party, and INEC in one fell blow. He has robbed APC members in Ondo State of the chance to pick in a fair manner who they believe is the best candidate.

As such, he has broken faith with the party and probably has broken a few laws. The consequences of what he has done are more expansive than a man of his scope can fathom. There must is a powerful and sinister arm at work to compel a man of Oyegun’s age to steal the decision of the party in a manner so crude that it would embarrass even the commonest thief.

With strong expectation, we await a response to Oyegun’s wrongdoing from those who clamored so long and loudly about Tinubu’s alleged role in the Ondo primary.

Leading into the primary, a prominent lawyer from Ondo published lengthy missives alleging that Tinubu was a malicious hand intent on rigging the primary. His letters spoke of his great love for democracy and justice. Though Oyegun has assaulted democracy in a most public and vulgar way, this lawyer’s prolific pen will remain stilled. He dare not publish a word about this travesty. His silence will be sign for all who care to decipher its meaning.

The plan was to point the accusing finger at Tinubu. With everyone focused on Tinubu, they would have distracted all attention from the heist they had set in motion. As fate would have it, the trickery they hoped to conduct in the shadows has come to light.

Thus, Oyegun was forced to undertake his desperate fraud in broad daylight in order to salvage the wrong initiated under the lamp of darkness. Those who so actively attributed imaginary wrong to Tinubu now stand dumb and mute in the face of confirmed impropriety. They remain silent for reasons they cannot divulge. Oyegun and his ilk turn out to be gangsters adorned in the tunic of party authority.

Oyegun has engaged in the strange math where five is greater than six. This smacks of how the PDP conducted its affairs and orchestrated its own downfall. Tinubu disparaged such malpractice when it was not in his party. Tinubu surely disowns it now that it has invaded the party he helped bring to fruition.

Tinubu has consciously refused to hold any official position with the party to avoid the perception that he was trying to control all and sundry. Tinubu has even kept his peace for some time despite many things that happened within the party that were not quite right. He exercised this forbearance because the party is young. A collective endeavor cannot avoid the mistakes and errors of organizational newness and evolution.

Yet, the wrongs Oyegun committed had nothing to do with newness or the mistakes occasioned by the path of reform. His actions are in the nature of the old wrongs that have afflicted our national politics much too long. If Oyegun wants to walk backward into the past, he has every right to it. However, he has no right to drag the party or any of us with him. Against our choosing.

The informal title of national leader of the party was given to Tinubu at the onset which he accepted it as a sign from those who wished to recognize my contributions to the party’s formation. It is an honorific title which he has been proud to wear until today. I would rather not have any title yet reside in a party that honors democracy than hold a title in a party that says it honors me but that treats justice with indecency. I find greater honor and comfort where democracy and fairness are found and respected.

Oyegun has done the irredeemable. His coup is an insult to party and to patriot, to reason and to the reform agenda of this government. To remain silent would be to admit the defeat of the reform and progressive change many have labored to bring forth. While the forces resistant to change and reform are strong, Tinubu dare not submit to them. Tinubu encourages all party members not to submit to them. If we acquiesce in this wrong, the one greater than this shall cascade upon us.

Oyegun’s transgressions are a warning. He is but the mercenary of forces that seek to return the nation to the old ways. If they get away with this infraction, no telling what or whom they will undermine tomorrow. Much is at stake. On the chopping block, lies the future of the political party in which the majority of voters had placed their confidence. To rescue the party, Oyegun must go. He has shown that he and democratic fair play cannot exist in the same party at the same time. If Tinubu is to choose between John Oyegun and progress toward a better Nigeria, the choice has already been made. For those who care about the party, who care about Nigeria and its chance for a better tomorrow, now is the time to stand against this brewing evil before it grows to encompass all we have built and all we hold dear.

‘Segun Adegbenro

Tinubu Media Office

September 25th, 2016

How APC Chairman Oyegun 'Sneaked' Akeredolu's Name To INEC Despite NWC Decision To Nullify It

News Punch had yesterday reported that there was a palpable confusion on how the former Nigeria Bar Association Chairman, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu's name was submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC despite the contrary decision of the National Working Committee, who had backed the decision of the Appeal Panel to nullify the election based on the glaring evidence received.

Fresh report according to The Nation has revealed how the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman Chief John Odigie Oyegun, overruled the majority decision of the National Working Committee (NWC) for a fresh primary to pick the party’s governorship candidate for the November 26 election in Ondo State, it was learnt yesterday.

The party’s Appeal Committee, headed by Mrs Helen Bendega, recommended the cancellation of the disputed primary which produced Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN) and a fresh primary.

After meeting for three days, sources said the 12-member NWC failed to reach a consensus. It decided to vote on the outcome. The 13th member of the body elected not to participate.

The two motions voted on are:

• Adoption of the recommendation of the Appeal Panel to cancel the primaries that allegedly produced Akeredolu and conduct a fresh one; and
• to submission of the Vice Chairman (South-west zone) Akinyelure’s name to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to beat the deadline, pending the resolution of the logjam.

It was learnt that six members voted to uphold the recommendation of the Appeal Panel, which is a fresh primary. Five members voted to upturn the report of the panel and retain Akeredolu as candidate.

But, contrary to the normal procedure that the chairman could only cast a deciding vote in the event of a tie, Oyegun decided to overrule the majority decision already reached by six members.

He reportedly forwarded Akeredolu’s name to INEC as the party’s candidate.

“A majority of the NWC members had taken a decision with their votes. What the chairman did was to overrule the majority and force his opinion on the majority,” one of the NWC members, who pleaded not be named, said.

The appeal panel, which examined the petitions against the governorship primary, recommended its cancellation.

Panel Chairman and Secretary signed the recommendations while the third member did not authenticate it.

The Appeal panel made its recommendation based on the corruption of the delegates list. It also observed that there was evidence that non-party members were recruited to vote.

National Organising Secretary Osita Izunaso, was accused of “colluding to manipulate the delegates’ list. He was also alleged to have provided extra tags to non-delegates to vote.”