"...I must now search to really ascertain where indeed my true political friends exist. I need to be, at this time of my life where I have friends who share a common vision with me and where my freedom, respect, honour and dignity would be guaranteed. Notwithstanding my enormous contributions over the past 12 years or so to building the alternative platform, after very deep thought and the widest consultations I have made the decision to withdraw my membership from the All Progressives Congress (APC) from today, Wednesday 27th August 2014."
*Tom Ikimi
Following
my widely publicized statement made in the aftermath of the 13th June 2014 All
Progressives Congress APC National Convention I took time off to reflect on the
state of the party, the emerging re-configuration of the general political
Structure in the country, and the visionary effects on the state of our Nation.
I have
spent almost 13 of the past 15 years faithfully dug in, in the trenches of the
evolving democratic dispensations in our country, steadfastly pursuing my
conviction that for true democracy to take firm root in Nigeria we should fall
in line with the model practiced in successful democracies in the world, of a
party in office and a scrutinizing alternative party holding the Government to account.
We all have watched with admiration how in those other countries through a
process of hitch-free General Elections, the baton of leadership changes hands
from time to time from one Party to the other to provide alternative policies
for their people. Therefore I have never considered my location outside the
ruling party, as being in an “opposition”, rather as supporting an alternative
platform. All that was necessary for me was the association with individuals
committed to build and uphold that platform. In this regard, my experiences
during the era of the NRC and SDP in 1990 -1993 are invaluable reference data
bank in my quest to work to reincarnate the reality of two dominant political
platforms in our country.
That is
why in 2005, I was fully involved in the creation of the Movement for the
Restoration and Defense of Democracy (MRDD), which transformed into the Action
Congress (AC) in 2006. I worked with a few dedicated colleagues here in my Abuja residence to
successfully achieve the project. Two groups, comprising those of us who broke
away from the PDP and a breakaway faction from the AD (notably the former South
West AD Governors) made up the foundation membership. For the benefit of
political science students, I should now reveal that the original documents we
prepared for registration bore the name All Peoples Congress (APC) We
eventually settled for AC in order to locate the new party higher up in the
ballot paper. In 2010, in
pursuit of a bigger party ahead of the 2011 General Election, we changed the
name from AC to ACN, in a very poorly constructed merger arrangement that
failed. It was therefore an experience of great joy and satisfaction for me to
host and lead the process that gave birth in February 2013, at my Abuja residence, to the
All Progressives Congress (APC) with the successful unification of the major
opposition parties – ACN, ANPP, CPC and a part of APGA. I am aware of the well
known saying that success breeds many uncles, therefore the subsequent and
recent claims of some persons as to the arrow heads of the creation of the APC
does not surprise me nor will it surprise my devoted 89 colleagues who worked
earnestly with me on the project.
The
refreshing news of the entry of the All Progressives Congress (APC) into the
Nation’s political firmament was received across the nation and beyond with
great joy and happiness. Our proclamation of a new party that would pursue
democratic principles by example with particularly a culture of internal Party
Democracy endeared us to the expectant public of teeming supporters who were
all eagerly waiting to take up membership in the new party. For me, I thought
we had finally broken the parochial boundaries of tribal and regional politics,
which in my recent experience had stunted the growth of the now defunct Action
Congress of Nigeria (ACN). Our clarion call for CHANGE reverberated across the
country where all and sundry awaited with high expectation to enroll in the new
party. I myself looked forward eagerly to a wider frontier of comradeship and
to once again recreate happiness color and pageantry in our National Politics
which in times gone by was so eloquently displayed in the legendary brotherly
hand shake across the river Niger and river Benue by the founding fathers of
our Nation’s politics.
It was
my fervent hope that the emergence of the APC would bring to an end the sad and
bitter experiences that I and some others endured in the ACN where one of the
leaders from the South West exploiting the narrow National success of the party
in that region virtually hijacked the party, proclaiming himself Overall
Leader. Five of the six Governors in the Party at that time were all from that
Region. Prominent leaders particularly from the North and South East notably,
personalities such as former Vice President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, late Alhaji
Abubakar Rimi, Alhaji Gali Naaba, Alhaji Lawal Kaita, Alhaji Mohammed Shata,
Amb. Yahaya Kwande, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, Otumba Fashawe, Senator Ben Obi,
Chief Dubem Onyia etc who could not come to terms with the man’s behavior
departed from the party back to the PDP. This mass departure of prominent
members, from particular sections of the country, did not only seriously weaken
the party but blemished it with an image of Regional and Tribal status. At that
time I refused to quit the party despite the fact that my frequent solo
protests against his behavior were dismissively ignored as I was always told
that the man was the overwhelming financier of the Party. While I disagree
stoutly with this bluff it is true that the particular individual constantly
boasted of his wealth and of his funding of the party. I on the other hand
could recall that this was a man I knew who was an easily forgettable character
in the 1990s when I was National Party Chairman and when my candidate Sir
Michael Otedola of blessed memory, won the Governorship of Lagos State. It
would come as no great surprise if Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s boasted great wealth
did not derive from any stupendous inheritance ancient or modern. Or that his
sudden bragging as though Nigeria ’s
Bill Gates is an accumulation of extraordinary hard work or financial wizardry.
I would rather trust the informed whispers in the inner circles of the party
which have it that having positioned himself as perceived leader in the most lucrative
income sources of the party, he is recipient and dispenser of bags and bags of
party funds. I have also become aware that he is, too, a beneficiary of most of
the lucrative contracts in all the ACN states without exception. To further
bolster his image it was also frequently said that Tinubu has control of all
the votes from South Western Nigeria which, as has been currently touted, when
added to the votes of North Western Nigeria would guarantee victory for the APC
in the upcoming Presidential election.
This
reckless and arrogant self-aggrandizement paved the way for the imposition of a
strange leadership on the APC in July 2013 when the party obtained registration
from INEC. Those of us who had worked so hard towards the successful merger and
creation of the APC were manipulated out of the scheme of things. In the
bizarre struggle to seize control of the party we were even openly accused by
the self-proclaimed owners of the party, of wanting to steal “their” party.
Many of us in the party as well as keen observers outside frowned at the skewed
leadership image of the party that was being paraded. An image that blatantly
ignored National sensitivities. The draft constitution prepared by the Merger
Committee included an exit clause, which provided a time limit of six months
for the Interim Management of the Party.
That clause mysteriously disappeared
from the version of the constitution that was smuggled into INEC records. Chief
Bisi Akande’s National Chairmanship was therefore primed to stay on in power ad
infinitum! Asiwaju Bola Tinubu frantically constituted a group of friends and
cronies which he proclaimed to be the APC Leadership. The press, led by the
Nation Newspaper, was made to propagate the aberration. And so rather than
allow the construction of a sound base for the party conducive to the free
admission of members Nationwide these self proclaimed leaders embarked on a
National travel spree all in a blaze of publicity, criss-crossing the country
in private aircraft, visiting PDP State Governors to offer them the State
branches of the APC if they would join the party. While they obviously but
ridiculously assumed that the crisis then in the PDP would last for ever the
details of the agreements they reached with PDP break away Governors, were never
revealed to the authentic Party Leadership but they were such that they ignited
the explosion of irreconcilable crisis in some states, particularly Kano,
Sokoto and Adamawa, resulting in the instant loss of some valuable key members.
*Ikimi Unveiling the APC Logo
Major decisions said to be party decisions now started emerging from this select group whose ad hoc membership varied from time to time. They usually congregated at Tinubu’s private parlor in his Asokoro – Abuja residence. Those who wanted to belong had to find or force their way into that parlor. Once initiated, your independence or capacity to challenge the plots that emerged from that cult venue became seriously curtailed. Rather than freely open up critical issues to free debate at the Interim Executive Council for democratic decisions to emerge, positions plotted at the notorious Asokoro parlor were being desperately foisted on the party for execution. A handful of us constantly challenged this trend with little success. Gradually, the direction of the Party assumed a focus on the contest for the Presidency. Then the images of presumed Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates as well as a privately cooked up Permanent Chairman for the party started emerging signaling a Muslim/Muslim Presidential and Vice Presidential ticket. The details of this issue I have sufficiently dealt with in my previous statement. However let me state again that their calculation that the Presidency in the 2015 General elections will be won by the APC through votes from the North West and South West Nigeria became an obsession. Asiwaju Bola Tinubu who passionately believed in this theory and who arrogantly claimed custody of all South West votes already picked an aspirant from North Western Nigeria who will run as Presidential candidate with him as Vice Presidential candidate. The National image of the party immediately plummeted.
This disastrous trend was worsened by the arrogant departure from observing the provisions of the Party’s constitution particularly as it pertains to internal Party democracy. Crisis broke out at uncontrollable levels in the prosecution of the most undemocratic Ward, LGA, and State Congresses Nationwide. Machinery for managing this self-inflicted crisis was virtually non-existent and it was inside this mess that the controversial National Convention of 13th June was staged. The Constitution of the Party clearly defines the Party Organs and the Party Leadership. There is no provision for anyone to be named as the Party Leader. Asiwaju Bola Tinubu having paraded himself both at home and abroad as The Leader of Opposition and of the APC had great difficulty in descending from the fictitious throne. In order to continue manipulating the party from his parlors inAbuja and Lagos he struggled to retain Chief Bisi
Akande as Chairman. He was further troubled by the growing influence of the
Governors and panicked at the realization that he and his South West select
caucus were loosing their grip on “their” party to the Governors. His last
minute efforts to rally a South West Leadership support for his absolute power
over the party failed and chances of retaining Chief Bisi Akande as National
Chairman also evaporated. In the circumstance as the only option was to find a
successor National Chairman as well as other National Officers, an illegal
process of horse trading between the Governors and Tinubu was initiated. The
Interim Executive Council had no knowledge of all these processes. Chief John
Oyegun a Tinubu plan B project said to be favored for his NADECO and SDP
credentials and also as one who could be controlled now featured, came into the
picture.
This disastrous trend was worsened by the arrogant departure from observing the provisions of the Party’s constitution particularly as it pertains to internal Party democracy. Crisis broke out at uncontrollable levels in the prosecution of the most undemocratic Ward, LGA, and State Congresses Nationwide. Machinery for managing this self-inflicted crisis was virtually non-existent and it was inside this mess that the controversial National Convention of 13th June was staged. The Constitution of the Party clearly defines the Party Organs and the Party Leadership. There is no provision for anyone to be named as the Party Leader. Asiwaju Bola Tinubu having paraded himself both at home and abroad as The Leader of Opposition and of the APC had great difficulty in descending from the fictitious throne. In order to continue manipulating the party from his parlors in
Until
recently the APC had 16 Governors who describe themselves as The Progressive
Governors. They are made up of the original Merging Parties Governors and the
break away PDP Governors who as a group are determined to take control of the
Party. This composition of Merging Party Governors and PDP breakaway Governors
cannot in any realistic sense be described as PROGRESSIVE. They have come
together with different personal agendas built around the central purpose of
acquiring National Power. Some of them nurse Vice Presidential ambition and
some others are warming up for the Presidential contest. In the circumstance
the project of taking control of the Party’s National machinery became crucial
and it was out of the Governor’s caucus that the plan of zoning the National
offices was initiated and concluded. The Interim Executive Committee had no
input. Although it is claimed that the National Chairmanship slot was zoned to
the South South, the horse-trading to produce the beneficiary took place
outside the zone. In order to secure the agreement of most of the Governors I
understand that an agreement was extracted from Chief Oyegun that he would
agree to step down as Chairman should a Governor from the region emerge as
either Presidential or Vice Presidential candidate. And although the Governors
may not have envisaged the present set back they now suffer in their numerical
strength the battle to take custody of the APC platform that they waged against
the Tinubu structure signaled yet another twist in the tale.
Apart
from the Tinubu Group and The Governors Group there is a third Group, of known
Presidential Aspirants comprising in the main General Muhamadu Buhari and
Alhaji Atiku Abubakar who are both Northerners. The inclination of the party
had always been to zone the Presidency to the North. Some Governors are now
thinking otherwise and given the decisive role that they seek to play in the
affairs of the Party as well as the tendency to ignore the principle of
internal party democracy, a monumental disaster looms large in the selection of
the Party’s Presidential and Vice Presidential flag bearers later in the year.
The construction of the new National Executive Committee through horse-trading
by the Governors and Tinubu has established a tool structure that is not in the
interest of transparency or democracy. To whom will the newly installed
National Chairman be finally loyal? Will it remain the Nadeco/SDP comradeship
that will drive his loyalty to Tinubu or the current Governors ongoing tactics
of dressing up the National Chairman that may become the game clincher? Time
will surely tell! How these known Presidential aspirants will make their way in
the contest that may feature some Governors is better imagined. Can Tinubu dare
to ditch Buhari? I dey laf!
*President Jonathan
Chief John Oyegun has made various statements since the 13th of June convention. He finally claimed that he emerged as National Chairman as a consensus candidate, which puts to rest his previous hasty announcement that I had stepped down for him. Needless to say the process adopted at the APC convention for deciding on a new National Chairman was a sham in which I did not participate. The Chief knows very well that an even playing field, a fundamental requirement for sound intra party contest did not exist. He also knows what I know that the conspiracy, with all the plotting and scheming to install him as National Chairman had been cooking long before the Convention process was revealed. The delegation that visited
I have read statements in the press credited to one of the Governors who claims knowledge of what transpired, to the effect that the allocation of National Chairman and other National offices of the Party was negotiated between the Governors and Tinubu. The late night event that took place at
In the
course of his maiden visit to Edo State Chief Oyegun, in his statement in the
Governor’s office referred to me as those “disgruntled” at his emergence as
National Chairman. In a subsequent interview in the Vanguard and Punch newspapers widely advertised on the Internet under the caption “Ikimi made mistake
threatening to leave APC” he said among other things ” It is unfortunate that
when you feel hurt, you threaten your party. That alone creates suspicion about
you in the party that you still belong to. Let me say it was a mistake for him
to threaten to leave the party” Certainly the euphoria and relish of his new
office may have taken possession of him, blurring his vision such that he does
not see the deep wound inflicted on the party, which is now disintegrating
rapidly across the country. For the record let me state that it was I who
admitted Chief Oyegun into the APP in 1999. He joined the ACN a year ago in Benin City after he
departed from the ANPP where in the 2011 General Elections he was that party’s
vice Presidential candidate. He certainly did not depart from the ANPP with great
pleasure. Therefore moving from one party to another should not be so strange
to him as his strange statement portrays. Let me state that notwithstanding my
well known disagreement over the years with the conduct of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu,
his actions within the AC, ACN and APC and notwithstanding the amazing
retention of Chief Bisi Akande as National Chairman of all these parties since
2006, there was absolute mutual respect between me and Chief Bisi Akande. I
have no difficulty in accepting any qualified member of the Party from any part
of Nigeria
emerging legitimately as National chairman. Chief John Oyegun visits me
regularly in Benin City and Abuja where I treat him graciously but I demand of
him to clarify what he meant by “the suspicion” he claimed the Party he joined
through ACN (a party he became a member of last year) would have about me, a
founding foundation member of AC, ACN and APC. Is he speaking for himself or
singing his master’s tune?
Senator
Ali Modu Sherriff, former two terms Governor of Bornu State enthusiastically
supported the merger. In fact his influence as Chairman Board of Trustees of
the defunct ANPP was crucial to bringing the party on board. Senator Sherriff
achieved his first tenure as a Nigerian Senator in 1991 under the NRC party
when I was the National Chairman. He always recalls the support i gave him in
what was his maiden political outing. I appreciate the co-operation he gave to
the merger committee, which substantially helped us to overcome impediments put
on our way during the merger talks, by some leaders of the ACN and CPC, who did
not want the ANPP on board. To get the APC off the ground Senator Sherriff made
substantial contributions, which included huge finance.
On the
7th of March 2014 the APC staged a National Summit at the Hilton Hotel in Abuja which was an
elaborate event choreographed to officially unveil the new party. An extensive
presentation was displayed to showcase how the party was formed. Most
fair-minded persons who attended the event were shocked to observe that not
even a word was mentioned of me as one of those who contributed to the creation
of the APC. Film clips were shown of Bola Tinubu, Muhamadu Buhari, Bisi Akande,
Ogbonnaya Onu and a few selected others who in most cases gave distorted accounts
of the merger process. Surprisingly it was Senator Ali Modu Sherriff who became
so disgusted by the deliberate distortion of the facts that he had the courage
to take the microphone and openly berated the injustice.
*Jonathan and Tinubu
Some were obviously embarrassed but it turned out that those who prepared the presentation, many of them high ranking members of the party, were working on the instructions of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. For his noteworthy and courageous public intervention on this matter, Senator Sherriff was now marked down by Bola Tinubu as having opposed him so much so that shortly after the event both men almost engaged in physical combat at an expanded National Exco meeting in Abuja.
Senator Ali Modu Sherriff may be a friend and long time political ally but he is certainly not my sponsor. I read several newspaper fictional stories that said Senator Sherriff was sponsoring me for National Chairman. That is not true.
The merger talks of 89 members hosted by me, was managed by a leadership of four which included HE Ibrahim Shekarau of ANPP, Alhaji Garba Gadi of CPC, Senator Ani Okonkwo of the APGA faction and myself of ACN. I was unanimously nominated by the group to preside as coordinating chairman. We worked harmoniously together and on the 6th February 2013 the four of us signed the agreement for the merger of the three parties and a part of APGA. I announced the merger and presented the agreement to the world. We continued to the next and difficult stages of agreeing a name, flag, motto and symbol for the party. These were very intricate negotiations! Our Sub-Committees worked on the Constitution and Manifesto. After all these were accomplished Asiwaju Bola Tinubu prevented a smooth establishment of the party in accordance with our agreements. HE Alhaji Ibrahim Shekarau former Governor of Kano State was sidelined in his State by a curious arrangement that ceded the party leadership in the state to the present Governor of Kano State with no defined role for the former Governor to play. He was compelled to withdraw his membership from the Party. He joined the PDP where he was recently appointed Minister of Education. Alhaji Shekarau possesses a very sound and critical mind. I found his contributions to our work most invaluable. Senator Ani Okonkwo has also announced his departure from the APC. The popular will, prevailing at the time among a cross section of members was that the Merger Leadership should continue to mold the party for at least six months and bring it to fruition by diligently establishing all its structures. Regrettably this was foiled by hijackers who have now crashed the project.
*APC Chairman, John Oyegun
Governor
of Sokoto State Alhaji Atahiru Bafarawa could not accept the shabby treatment
meted out to him by those who seized the new party. Governor Bafarawa is very
loyal and dependable. He is an astute politician with whom I have been
associated for about thirty years now. He was NRC State Party Chairman of Sokoto State
in 1991 when I was National Chairman. He has always been very keen on the
unification of the opposition parties and consequently hosted several merger
meetings prior to the 2011 General Elections. On this occasion he hosted the
sittings of the Constitution committee.. Alhaji Bafarawa suffered unprecedented
humiliation in the ACN in 2011
in a kangaroo convention staged in Lagos to select the ACN Presidential
candidate. He therefore withdrew from the ACN party to return to the ANPP. This
time as an ANPP delegate he enthusiastically participated in the merger talks.
He has now withdrawn from the APC to join the PDP as he could not accept the
sudden hand over of the APC Sokoto Party to the present Governor who during his
tenure was his deputy.
Senator Ali Modu Sherriff has not hidden his very strong disapproval of the precarious direction that the Party is heading. The conduct of 13th June Convention was totally unacceptable to him. Following his open challenge of Tinubu it did not surprise me that Tinubu negotiated away all Sherriff’s nominees from the newly constituted National Executive committee. I understand that Sen. Ali Modu Sherriff is on his way out of the party, along with a very large slice of the party membership particularly from the North East.
It is
not a coincidence to me that the prominent members of APC targeted by Bola
Tinubu such as Alhaji Atahiru Bafarawa, Sen Ali Modu Sherriff and myself are
former NRC members or those perceived as Conservatives.
Since
after the 13th of June APC Convention and after my post convention statement, a
few leaders of the APC have come to see me on their individual personal basis
to plead with me not to abandon the party. I have received quite a number of
telephone calls as well, conveying similar views to me. None of these persons
could disagree with my very strong views against the turn of events regarding
the mismanagement of the party nor of the grave injustice that has been
perpetrated against me through an unprecedented level of conspiracy and bad
faith. All they are saying to me is that I should not abandon what I had helped
so much to build. It is truly amazing that all who have spoken to me privately
without exception agree with me that the image of the APC as is a Tinubu Party
has severely damaged the party but each time I openly raise issues that
challenge the consequences everyone keeps quiet. It is common knowledge that
the vote against the very popular candidate Sen Chris Ngige in the Anambra
Governorship election and recently against one of the most successful Governors
Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti
State was indeed a vote
against Tinubu. Tinubu’s obsessive calculation of South West/North West votes
is unproven and untested. It is in pursuit of a very selfish ambition that has
seriously alienated block zones, such as South East, South South, North East
and most of North Central from the party. The Party has collapsed in very many
states such as Adamawa, it is in distress in Edo ,
Ogun, Oyo. Lagos ,
Nasarawa.
*Gen Muhammadu Buhari of APC
In consideration of all the above I have come to the following conclusions:
I have
lived to see one of my major political yearnings in place. Now there are two
major Political Parties in my Country – The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and
The All Progressives Congress (APC). I am satisfied that I have played an
important and historic role in ensuring the emergence of an alternative
platform to the party in office. There are many now claiming leadership of the
APC who were very skeptical when we embarked on the merger project who openly
dismissed the idea that it would never work. Yes, some of them tried several
times in the past to unify some parties in order to achieve bigger platforms
but in an atmosphere of prevailing dishonesty, greed, unbridled ambition,
uncompromising and undiplomatic approaches to such delicate negotiations, their
efforts yielded resounding failure. For my part I enjoyed the respect of all
the 89 delegates who met with me for about six months because they were very
confident I had no personal agenda not even taking sides to protect positions
of the ACN my own party then. But immediately we established what they had
considered impossible to do, I became a prime target, as they believed that
they could only control and manipulate the affairs of the party if I was not
there. By my credentials in Political Party Leadership my claim to the top
table in any party to which I belong is well earned! In the present atmosphere
of envy, plots and gossip the long-term satisfaction of a political comradeship
and brotherhood anchored on shared principles and ideology, of honor, trust and
confidence in pursuit of a common goal remain elusive.
I
understand they claim that I possess a strong and independent personality as
well as a mind of my own which cannot be bent and so I am said to be one that
could not be controlled. On a rather mischievous note, my foremost assailant in
that party, peddles in one breadth a smear campaign that if I were to be in
charge, I would sell the party while in another fowl breadth that I am an enemy
as I had served in the Abacha Government. My so called strong and independent
personality sometimes misconstrued as an arrogant mien is merely the creation
of nature and I have never ever been harmful at all to anyone around me but as
for an independent and firm mind I believe it is an asset and an attribute
which indeed is so direly needed for good and fair leadership in our society
today and I apologize to no one for being so created. It is really ironic that
I was not accused of going to sell the party over the past 13 years or so that
I struggled in different recorded ways to make notable contributions in
creating and building it up in its various forms but that i was now to sell the
party after working successfully to achieve its present mega format. Who by the
way is the buyer? Is it the PDP Government that opened its doors once more
recently to one of the APC foremost boastful and noisy leader to consummate a
mega oil deal on the eve of that controversial APC convention? Who then is
really selling and who is indeed buying? Who sold Mallam Nuhu Ribadu’s ACN
Presidential candidature in 2011? Was it Chief Tom Ikimi? My tenure as Foreign
Affairs Minister during the Abacha Regime has turned out to be a befitting
reference in patriotic diplomatic Service in our country for which I am
extremely proud! Why am I targeted for being that Foreign Minister that brought
peace to Liberia, restored democratic Government in Sierra Leone, maintained
the leadership of Nigeria in the OAU, ECOWAS and the UN, the first to turn to
China with a trade delegation that opened up massive opportunities for our
country but they fail to point even a feeble finger at others in their midst
who benefitted immensely from the Abacha Government, some who ran the most
lucrative agencies during that tenure, some others who made away with giant oil
fields or are we blind not to see the giant, fancy lucrative projects currently
being executed in partnership with well known Abacha foreign friends!
In
consideration of all these I now have grave difficulty in operating
side-by-side petty minded people who are so scared of my personality and are
not willing to submit to firm impartial authority. I will not accept any
imaginary bar to be installed over me, deliberately constructed by political
enemies to prevent my ascension to any height of my choice in any party that I
belong to, such as has been so blatantly done in the APC.
The
recent mass exodus from the Party has effectively put the movement of the APC
firmly in reverse gear. Those who have left include notables such as Alhaji
Ibrahim Shekarau of Kano State , Alhaji Atahiru Bafarawa of Sokoto State ,
Alhaji Ali Modu Sherriff of Bornu State , Brg Gen Buba Marwa of Adamawa
State , Mallam Nuhu Ribadu of Adamawa State ,
Senator Ani Okonkwo of Anambra State , Pastor Osagie Ize Iyamu of Edo State .
I understand Chief Olusegun Osoba of Ogun
State is on his way out
too. The very weak National Leadership appointed for the Party in the last
Convention is definitely incapable of restoring any positive movement to the
party. The prevailing hostile atmosphere in the party does not present the
opportunity for any intervention from me at this time at National, Zonal or
State Level as I have done in the past.
I led
the process of change in Edo
State politics in 2006
when as National Leader of the Action Congress (AC) I brought the new party to
the state. I worked with dedicated and courageous colleagues to establish the
party in Edo State and we recorded a resounding
success in the 2007 General Elections – our very first outing in the State. AC
and eventually ACN has therefore been the Government in power in Edo State
from 2008 to date and I am proud of the quality of peaceful, respectable and
dignified leadership that I was able to provide to the party through these
years. Comrade Adams Aliu Oshiomhole who joined us in the middle of our
preparation for the 2007 General Elections met me in firm control of the Party
and its Leadership in the State at the time. We welcomed him warmly and with
our support he was lucky to emerge victorious in the State Governorship
election and I have over the years enjoyed an excellent working relationship
with the Comrade. Now as he is the APC Governor of Edo State ,
I wish him good luck, good health and God’s guidance as he proceeds to conclude
his second term in office. But during the past seven years of performing my
role as leader of the party in Edo State, my personal experiences of the
relationship between the political party, the legislature and the Executive at
State level has instilled in me very useful lessons that would be immensely
helpful in any future roles.
I have
no current or perceivable ambition to contest for executive power. My quest for
an alternative political platform in the country is basically in pursuit of a
credible political structure that would guarantee the vital checks and balances
in the system so that our people may enjoy the benefits of alternative choices
of National Government from time to time. It is certainly not for the creation
of a vengeful ravaging army of flatterers and favor-seekers at the command of a
desperate upstart with the hideous mission of stampeding an illusory enemy.
While I have always regarded the entire country as my constituency, I am not
oblivious of the reality of my circumstance as a South Southerner, a Christian
from a so called minority stock who will continue to align with the forces of
change that would guarantee justice, prosperity, peace and happiness for all
our peoples. The forces that have now seized the APC in a stranglehold are on a
mission very much against my conscience and indeed my very being.
I have
always viewed a political party as a congregation of like-minded persons who
become welded together in a close-knit brotherhood in a manner beyond mere
friendship. In a Nation of two dominant political parties or even diverse
political parties the members, across party lines, who are all in politics need
not be sworn enemies. After all they are citizens of the same Nation with I
suppose a mission of service to their people. Therefore their hold to power has
to be at the discretion of the people.
I am at
the stage of currently critically re-examining the two dominant political
parties in our country, which are the APC and the PDP, in both of which I have
had close working knowledge. I have not ignored the other political parties but
in the light of the foregoing I must now search to really ascertain where
indeed my true political friends exist. I need to be, at this time of my life
where I have friends who share a common vision with me and where my freedom,
respect, honour and dignity would be guaranteed. Notwithstanding my enormous
contributions over the past 12 years or so to building the alternative
platform, after very deep thought and the widest consultations I have made the
decision to withdraw my membership from the All Progressives Congress (APC)
from today, Wednesday 27th August 2014.
--------------------*Ikimi, former External Affairs Minister in General Sani Abacha's Military Regime Was a Chieftain of the All Progressive Congress (APC)
Go back to where your bread is buttered most. Ikimi is not much a of a force in Nigerian politics these days; at this stage in his political career, he should be looking for a steady source of income and that will not be coming from APC any time soon. The best option was for him to go back to PDP, and there is nothing wrong with it because he will be in good company there. Not that the APC is any better, either.
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