Plots To Oust Oyegun THICKENS, Ex-Govs Call On Tinubu, Others To Intervene

John Odigie-Oyegun, APC Nationa Chairman

Ahead of this week’s National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the Former Governors’ Forum has thrown its weight behind the National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun.

There are indications that Odigie-Oyegun’s tenure may be cut short at the meeting, as a vote of no confidence is likely to be passed on him with a motion for his replacement. But an insider in the Forum of Former Governors told New Telegraph yesterday that the caucus of the 1992 governors, led by former governor of Yobe State, Senator Abba Bukar Ibrahim, met over the weekend with the aim of mobilising other governors to stop the plot to remove the APC National Chairman. Odigie-Oyegun, who was elected in 2014, has two more years to be in office, going by the constitution of the party.

However, some party members have been plotting for his removal after falling out of favour with some chieftains despite APC’s victory in the 2015 general elections. 

It would be recalled that the APC National Chairman recently went on a 10-day vacation and it was reported that he went on terminal vacation. A source at the party’s secretariat said “the plot might come to fruition at the National Executive Committee meeting coming up on Thursday.”

He added that part of the party’s activities for the week is to consult widely before the last decision would be taken at the NEC meeting. However, to avert Odigie- Oyegun’s removal, the former governors met on Thursday where they strategised on how to save the former Edo State governor’s job.

A source revealed that the caucus of the 1992 governors led by Senator Ibrahim and former governor of Cross River State, Chief Clement Ebiri, are at the forefront of mobilising members to back Odigie- Oyegun.

The source further stated that they are reaching out to other former governors, including the National Leader of APC, Senator Bola Tinubu, to make sure that the no confidence vote would be raised against the party chairman.

“Also, the team would try to see President Muhammadu Buhari on the issue if responses from other party chieftains are not positive. We have many of our members in the party and outside the party.

We have chosen to back Odigie-Oyegun after our meeting because we have seen that some people are only looking for how to control the party at all levels,” the source quoted one of the former governors to have said. The Forum is chaired by former governor of Anambra State, Senator Jim Nwobodo, formerly a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) before his recent defection to the APC.

Source: New Telegraph

APC Crisis: Buhari Endorses Oyegun's Sack As Pressure Mounts, His Many Sins Revealed

Ripples - Prominent forces within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) may have secured President Muhammadu Buhari’s backing to dispense with national chairman of the party, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, Ripples can exclusively report.

Investigations revealed that the Board of Trustees (BoT), National Executive Council (NEC) and most members of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party as well as leading National Assembly members have decided to do away with Oyegun.

Oyegun, it was gathered, has become a dispensable commodity according to the forces against him because of his mishandlings of several issues in the party.

The national chairman is being accused of committing serious infractions that have created needless troubles for the party.

It was learnt that all these infractions have been collated and explained to the Presidency, which has since decided to go with the Oyegun-must-go project.

Sources said President Buhari was initially opposed to the campaign to send Oyegun packing because their relationship dated back to 2007 when the President contested under the defunct All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) with Oyegun playing prominent, visible roles.

Buhari was said to have balked at the idea, according to findings, because of the suspicion that the move was just a campaign of calumny against the former Edo State governor.

He was however swayed over after the infractions committed by Oyegun and how they have affected the fortunes of the party were tabled before him.

The President was said to have told the party chieftains that with all the evidence against the national chairman, he was no longer fit to continue in office.

Buhari however reportedly insisted Oyegun should be given a soft-landing to avert a major backlash that will trail a forced resignation or sack.

Prominent among the infractions the anti-Oyegun elements presented was his handling of the Kogi governorship supplementary debacle that produced Yahaya Bello.

It was learnt many NWC and NEC members actually endorsed James Faleke to fly the party’s ticket but they were allegedly shut down by Oyegun.

Oyegun, many of them alleged, was bought over by Bello, a wealthy business merchant, with a whopping N300million “as fuel money” after a visit to the chairman in Abuja.

This ‘fuel money’, APC chieftains alleged was why Oyegun stuck out his neck for Bello even when some prominent members begged for Faleke to continue the inconclusive election.

It was learnt that the party’s leaders succeeded in proving this allegation to Buhari at a meeting last week in Abuja.

The national chairman is also accused of hobnobbing with Senate President Bukola Saraki, who is facing trial at the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) over charges of false declaration of assets.

Oyegun was said to have angered party chieftains when he recognised Saraki few days after his emergence in defiance of the APC’s directives.

His enemies were believed to have told Buhari it was despicable for the chairman to have recognised Saraki even when it was obvious the President was livid about his emergence and avoided him for months.

“If our chairman could recognise a rebellious Senate President when the President was still angry with the process that produced him, it shows he was throwing his weight around.

“Look at how the mess has created troubles for the anti-corruption war. The National Assembly is clearly obstructing the President’s policies and programmes.'

“By recognising him without clearance from the Presidency, Oyegun compromised the party. He boasted Saraki’s defiance and slighted Buhari,” a 

source privy to the Oyegun-must-go project confided.

The source added that the March 22 NWC meeting in Abuja will be the beginning of the end for Oyegun while his fate might be sealed on March 23 when the BoT meeting holds.

The March 24 NEC meeting, according to the plan, will serve as the platform to push Oyegun out.

Already there are pressures on him to turn in his resignation so as not to give the impression that he was edged out.

Oyegun, who returned from a 10-day leave on Monday, it was learnt, has been lobbying to save his job.

But sources said the party has suffered greatly under him.

“We are drifting. There is no discipline and we are not in charge. We need a chairman who can rein in things for the President so that Buhari can concentrate on the business of governance,” a NWC member told our correspondent on Monday night.

APC Crisis Deepens; Oyegun Probably 'SACKED', Oni Occupies The Chairman's Office; NWC Shun Office

Silent crisis rocking the leadership of the ruling All progressives Congress becoming messy as members of members of National Working Committee, (NWC) staged a walk out, insisting that the national Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun resigns, the Authority Newspaper says.

Last week, News Punch reported that Chief Oyegun handed over the mantle of leadership of the party to former Ekiti State Governor and the Deputy National Chairman of the Party, Chief Segun Oni, stating that he, Oyegun was going on 10 days vacation.

According to our source, The development has ground­ed activities at the APC Nation­al Secretariat as all the Nation­al Working Committee (NWC) members have continued to stay away from their offices.

The AUTHORITY learnt that the APC had been facing a si­lent leadership crisis as some top members have fallen out with Od­igie-Oyegun over his leadership style and have demanded his res­ignation.

There were also reported is­sues of accountability among the

It was reported that Chief Od­igie-Oyegun was forced to pro­ceed on a compulsory leave to pave the way for the resolution of the feud, but his critics have in­sisted that he must not return to the seat after the expiration of the holidays.

Odigie-Oyegun, howev­er, debunked the claims, stress­ing that he was proceeding on a 10-day leave to have some rest as demanded by his doctors after a hectic period of activities since he emerged as the APC nation­al chairman.

“I have been chairman for how long now? Going to two years, and it has been a very in­tense period building the par­ty and a very intense period put­ting the government together up to this point.

“All that has happened is that I think I deserve a bit of a break and that will start effective Mon­day and in my absence my deputy here, Chief Segun Oni, will cover my beat. It is that simple, it is that straightforward. Any speculation about not being in office is of no consequence. On Tuesday, I was down with malaria; I managed on Wednesday to attend that crucial meeting at the Presidency; yester­day I had to go to the hospital just to be sure and today I am at work, full stop”, the APC national chair­man noted, while reacting to re­ported crisis over his leadership of the party. But it was a more con­fused situation yesterday when it was noticed that the national chairman’s absence has crippled activities at the party’s secretari­at, with only the acting chairman, Segun Oni and the National Youth Leader, Dasuki Jalo, who came in briefly on Monday and Tuesday.

A staff member of the Secre­tariat, who pleaded anonymity, told newsmen in confidence that “all the national officers are stay­ing away because they don’t want to answer questions as regard the running of the party.”

Another source who raised concerns over the future of Odi­gie-Oyegun as the national chair­man of the party, revealed that the acting national chairman, Segun Oni, has already moved into Odi­gie-Oyegun’s office, saying “that is an indication that the APC chair­man might not come back be­cause if he is acting as chairman, he is supposed to do that from his own office, not Odigie-Oyegun’s office.”

The APC National Caucus will meet on March 22, ahead of the March 23, 2016 Board of Trus­tees meeting, while the party’s NEC is billed to meet on March 24 to tackle most of the crises fac­ing the party.

Several attempts made by The AUTHORITY to get the reaction of the APC National Secretary, Mai Mala Bunu, who is also act­ing as the party’s Publicity Sec­retary, proved abortive as he did not pick several calls that were put across to him.

When Oni was contacted on the issue, he said that he was in an APC campaign rally ahead of the March 19 council election in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).