Tag: John Odigie-Oyegun

•Says Nigeria is on the ropes
•Ruling party hails APC convention
•Atiku: I was not zoned out of presidential race

The new National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, assumed office  yesterday  with a challenge for the electorate ahead of the 2015 polls: it is time  to sack the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from power.

He said the nation’s wait for an alternative political party is over.

But he vowed that the APC will not be under any illusion that the defeat of PDP is going to be easy as the ruling party will stop at nothing to frustrate the mission of the APC to dislodge it in the elections.

Oyegun in his   acceptance speech at about 10.15am after his election as national chairman of the APC, asked party members to work as a united team to secure power at the centre next year.

He urged APC members to bury the hatchet and grudges associated with the election of a new chairman.

He demanded what he described as “the healing of rifts and smoothening of cracks” in the party.”

Oyegun said: “Our party has much work to do. The state of our nation is highly disturbing. It could be said with some justification that our great country, Nigeria, is on the ropes.

“A nation blessed by the Almighty with all the key endowments to make any nation great has been virtually brought to its knees by corruption that is unbridled and will qualify for the Guinness Books of Records, resource management, directionless  and what some have described as cluelessness.

“As if these woes are not enough, our situation has been compounded by the amazingly visionless national leadership that has been inflicted on Nigerians by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) since the dawn of our latest democratic dispensation.

“In this past decade and a half of genuine suffering, Nigerians have been frustrated by the fact that there was no alternative national party of comparable strength to rescue them from the clutches of the PDP.”

He assured citizens that “Your wait is over. Your prayers have not been in vain. Help is on the way. The APC is here! In 2015, Nigerians will finally have the opportunity to kick out a long-ruling party that has, among other things, failed to provide them with stable power supply, failed to provide them with security that will enable them sleep peacefully on their beds at night, failed to provide employment for millions of Nigerian youths, and failed to stem the tide of corruption that is robbing Nigeria’s children of their future.”

Odigie-Oyegun promised that the APC would provide a visionary, dedicated and people-oriented leadership that will liberate the nation from PDP’s rule of poverty and oppression, adding, “Under the stewardship of the APC, Nigeria will progress and Nigerians will thrive. This is our sacred pledge to Nigerians.”

He admitted that defeating PDP in 2015 requires unity within APC and forgiveness of offences and injuries in the party.

He added: “But we must not be under any illusion: our work will not be easy. The very task of salvaging Nigeria will, on its own, be hard because the rot is deep.

“But the task will be made even harder by the fact that we have, as opponents, a political party that will stop at nothing to frustrate our mission.

“We know the make-up, the habits, the philosophy and the mindset of our opponents. We know the extent they will go to cling on to power. And we know the immensity of the resources at their disposal.”

Party members, he said must learn to let go of past grudges and previous grievances and move together as members of the same family.

“And so tonight, I call for the healing of rifts and the smoothening of cracks. I call for forgiveness of offences and injuries,” he stressed.

He urged members to seek at all times the unity of the party as well as a common vision and commitment to work hand-in-hand to accomplish the task ahead.

He added: “If we fail in our task due to disunity and acrimony, it is not only ourselves we would have let down. We would have betrayed the hopes and aspirations of long-suffering Nigerians. And we must never lose sight of the fact that the collective destiny of the Nigerian people is far more important than our individual or group interests, ambitions or grievances.

“Because the road ahead of us is long and hard, we must heed the wise advice of our esteemed Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka that “we must set forth at dawn.”

“And so, whereas tonight we party to celebrate the successful conclusion of the National Convention of our party, we must rise with the dawn and set forth on our patriotic mission to set Nigerians free, and usher in the New Nigeria of our dreams.”

While extending the olive branch to all co-aspirants, Odigie-Oyegun praised the “visionary architects” of APC who worked diligently to build the party.

He said: “Through personal sacrifices and patriotic vision, our party leaders assembled an impressive array of patriotic Nigerians and welded them into this great party and thus, for the first time in the modern era of Nigerian democracy, built a truly national party that provided a robust alternative to an oppressive ruling party.”

He thanked members of the former Interim National Executive Committee members, “who undertook the extremely difficult task of getting our party up and running, and keeping it on its feet in its infancy, even as our opponents tried every trick in the book to knock us down.”

The All Progressives Congress, (APC) yesterday defied over three hours downpour to elect its 48-man substantive first National Executive Committee members.

The leaders of the party who thronged the Eagle Square sat throughout the night despite the cold weather to ensure the emergence of the new executive members.

The rains rippled through the unprotected stands at the square leaving over 6,000 delegates wet to their pants.

But despite being soaked, the APC leaders and members were goaded by their determination to effect change and tolerate the rage of the rains.

The downpour, which was accompanied by storm, blew off make-shift tents and attempted to sweep away the ballot boxes but the “Can Do” spirit of the APC leaders and members prevailed.

The convention which was officially declared open at about 8.15pm on Friday ended at about 11.00 am on Saturday morning.

Despite the three hour disruption by the rain, the leaders completed the most important assignments of the convention which were voting, the collation of the ballot papers and the announcement of winners.

Former Governor of Edo State, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun was declared elected as the National Chairman of the APC at about 9.40am by the Chairman of the Electoral Committee of the convention, Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje.

He added that some of the new executive members emerged by affirmation in line with the constitution of the APC while nine of the positions were keenly contested for.

Baraje said: “The following positions were contested for by one competitor only and therefore in accordance with the relevant provisions of the constitution of our party which gives us the opportunity that we could go ahead and make voice vote and affirmations, I am going to announce such positions that in spite of their being single contestants, we still voted for them and their ballot boxes can be seen over there.

“After, I am going to read those positions, nine of them, that were also keenly vied for by more than one contestant and the persons that emerged in that category too as the winners.”

 

According to Baraje, the position of the National Chairman of the party was won by the former Governor of Edo State, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun.

The post of the Deputy National Chairman South went to Segun Oni while Senator Lawal Shuaibu emerged the Deputy Chairman North.

Mallam Ibrahim Bala Gubi was declared the National Secretary with Orji Ugofa as Deputy National Secretary while the post of the Vice Chairman South West went to Akinyelure Pius Oloye.

The Vice Chairman North West is Inuwa Abdulkadir while the Vice Chairman North Central is Zakari Abdullahi Ede.

Others are Deputy National Organizing Secretary Alhaji Suleiman Manko Hunkuyi, National Treasurer Bala Mohammed Gwagwaruwa, National Financial Secretary Alhaji Tajudeen Olawutan Bello, National Welfare Secretary, Dika Umaru Lada, Deputy National Welfare Secretary, Mr. Jock Alamba, National Publicity Secretary Alhaji Lai Mohammmed, Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Timi Frank, National Legal Adviser, Mr. Muiz Banire, National Woman Leader, Hajia Ramatu Tijani, Deputy National Auditor, Oputa Ado, National Youth Leader, Ibrahim Dasuki Jalo, and the Zonal Youth Leader North Central, Mr. Tempe Adigwe.

Other national officers elected at the convention are Zonal Youth Leader North West, Shehu Marshal, Zonal Youth Leader North East, Michael Tanko, Zonal Youth Leader South West, Adedotun Oluwasegun, Zonal Woman Leader South East, Mrs. Helen Ojukwu, Zonal Woman Leader North East, Fatima Danjuma, Zonal Woman Leader North West, Aisha Kaita, Zonal Woman Leader South-South, Rachael Bassey Akpabio, Zonal Woman Leader North Central, Hajia Hassana and Zonal Woman Leader South West, Kemi Nelson.

Also elected were Ex-Officio Members South East, Nduka Anyanwu, North East, Mallam Mamman Isah Azare, North West, South West, Mallam Razak Ayobamiseresile, Alhaji Nasiru Haladu Danu, and National Auditor, Chief George Moghalu.

Baraje further announced the following as the winners of the keenly contested elections where the party had more than one competitor:

According to him, Mr. Emmanuel Eneukwu scored 683 votes to defeat Uchena Kiyari Ufiaro who scored 14 votes for the position of the National Vice Chairman South East.

The post of the National Vice Chairman South- South, was won by Illiad Atagbo with 328 votes as against Obono Obla who scored 54 votes.

Bibi Lawal emerged the National Vice Chairman, North-East with 772 votes against Dr. Umaru Duhu who polled 626 votes.

 

The post of the National Organizing Secretary was won by Senator Osita Izunaso with 952 votes against Mrs. Adaugo Obi who polled 15 votes.

The Deputy National Treasurer went to Abubakar Lado Suleija with 722 votes against Alhaji Yusuf Sheriff who scored 210 votes while the post of the Deputy National Financial Secretary was won by Sunday Chukwu with 893 votes against Chijioke Agwugwe with 15 votes.

Helen Chika Adike became the Deputy National Woman Leader with 537 votes against Tina Akunobi who scored 10 votes.

The post of the Zonal Youth Leader South East was won by Paul Chukwuma with 268 votes against Mr. Igwe Udimata who scored 156 votes, while Ex-Officio Member North Central, went to Alhaji Jemilu Baba with 121 votes ahead of Nelson Alapa who polled 157 votes.

There was however drama few minutes into the announcement of the results.

Baraje, who had to pause as a result of power failure at the Eagle Square , said: “For the past almost seven years, the ruling party has been promising light and have been spending billions and billions of Naira, yet we are in darkness.

“The reason why some of us felt we can no longer live with dishonesty. They are not happy. We are waking them up with this very good news of how it is done.”

 

•Ikimi, Jaja, Sylva to run

Barely nine days to the National Convention of the All Progressives Congress (APC), a former Governor of Edo State, Chief John Odigie Oyegun, yesterday announced his interest in its Chairmanship.

Oyegun may vie for the slot with three others, including a former Governor of Bayelsa State, Timpreye Sylva, a former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chief Tom Ikimi, and a former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Sam Sam Jaja.

Oyegun said if given the chance, he would lead the party to take over power from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the centre.

He said he may not have money but he has the integrity and the pedigree to manage the party.

He said he is the only aspirant who has never crossed the divide between the progressive and the conservative tendencies.

Oyegun, who announced his interest in an interview with our correspondent, said he won’t disappoint APC members.

He said: “I am gunning for the Office of the National Chairman of APC in a strong way for the good of the party. The reason is simple: In all my life, I have been a progressive; I have never crossed a line.

“Due to my persistence, a major opposition party has emerged and I played a major role in its emergence.

“I have had this principle, passion for a long time that we can change the course or history of this nation by giving the people a credible choice. Now, we have the right one.”

Oyegun said Nigeria is due for a change of government at the centre through APC.

He added: “I have the vision, accompanied by the passion, to create and propel a party that will become a mass movement that will finally take over power at the centre on behalf of the long suffering masses of the nation.

“I believe I can turn the party into a political fighting force, the like of which the nation has not experienced. I have the pedigree to lead the opposition.”

On the emergence of three other aspirants for the office, Oyegun said: “Of course, naturally, that is good for the party.

“I know about three credible people too. But I think I am the only one that has not crossed that divide between the progressives and the conservative tendencies.”

Asked if with his lean personal resource, he could win the seat, he added: “I don’t have money but I am offering them qualities that they can trust; that will bind the party together and turn it into a formidable political fighting force.

“I am offering APC members change, principled leadership, totally incorruptible leadership; leadership with a vision and that is totally passionate about both the party and the nation.”

Oyegun urged Nigerians to give the APC a chance to change the country for good.

He said: “The APC is a party whose time has come. We are espousing policies and principles whose time has come.

“I will only put it this way: The nation in February 2015 will be faced with a choice between business as usual or the new principled and focused party-the APC. And we are saying to the people, judge wisely, vote for change, vote for APC.

“So, by the same token, I am offering myself for the National Chairman of APC, I am urging party leaders and members nationwide to vote wisely for me because I am offering change.”