Tag: Timi Frank

THE National Working Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) said yesterday that it will not take any further action against suspended Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Timi Frank, pending the determination of the suit he instituted against the party in court.

The party said it was fully ready for this Saturday’s governorship election in Ondo State, congratulating the PDP candidate, Eyitayo Jegede, for his victory at the Court of Appeal.

Its Deputy National Secretary, Obi Ngofa, told reporters at the end of the National Working Committee meeting that by the provisions of the party’s constitution, Frank technically stands expelled from the party by virtue of the case he instituted against the party.

Ngofa said while the zonal executive has the power to carry out such investigation, the responsibility of the NWC was to take the recommendation of the zonal committee to the National Executive Committee meeting for ratification.

Ngofa told reporters at the end of the NWC meeting that the party was conscious of the case instituted by Timi Frank, which he said, contravened the provisions of the party’s constitution.

He said: “The position of the National Working Committee of the party on the issue of Timi Frank is that we have accepted the recommendation of the zonal committee that sat on it after reviewing the report they gave to us yesterday. “Timi Frank did not appear at any of the sittings. He has rather gone to court, our position is that we will not jeopardise the matter that is in court now. As a law abiding political party, we will wait until the court decides.

On Saturday’s governorship election in Ondo State, the party said it was ready to take over power from the PDP in Ondo state.

He said the APC was battle ready to dethrone the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), irrespective of the candidate they present, adding that the APC remain the only party ready for the election while other parties were busy calling for postponement.

He maintained that the entrance of Jegede into the race would make the contest more competitive and interesting, saying: “It is okay. No table has turned against us. I can say we are prepared.”

All Progressives Congress (APC) Deputy National Publicity Secretary Comrade Timi Frank yesterday failed to appear before the five-man disciplinary committee set up by the party’s Southsouth zonal leadership to investigate a petition against him.

It was not clear whether the committee sat yesterday, but sources at the party secretariat said its members came to the secretariat in the morning, met briefly and left.

Frank had said that he would not appear before the committee, which he alleged was set up by the APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, describing it as a kangaroo committee.

Dismissing the committee, he said: “I am not aware of any committee until now. I have not been served with any letter. If that is true, I am waiting to receive a letter from such committee. I don’t know who set up that committee. I don’t know whether it is a committee approved by the party structure or appointed by the National Chairman…

“What is happening now is as a result of my recent resolve to embark on a rescue mission to expose the internal wrangling within the party by visiting party leaders.

“I want to make it clear that I will not be intimidated by anybody in this party. I am a loyal party member; I believe in this party and will do everything I can to rescue this party because the party is in a total mess today under the leadership of Odigie-Oyegun.”

Chairman of the committee Solomon Edoga told reporters last week that the members have sent a letter by courier to Frank, expressing confidence that he would honour the committee’s invitation, which he said was set up in accordance with the APC constitution.

He said the petitioner, one Aniekan Okon, has appeared before the committee and provided them with additional information and has promised to supply more information to the committee.

ALL Progressives Congress (APC) Deputy National Publicity Secretary Timi Frank has challenged the party’s National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, to publish the minutes of the National Working Committee (NWC), where the party rejected the report of the Ondo State Primary Appeal Panel.

In a statement in Abuja, Frank wondered why it took the national chairman two weeks “to prepare lies as responses”.

According to him, the situation in the party as well as the accusation and counter-accusation have got to a stage where Odigie-Oyegun must publish what he described as “the undoctored minutes of the meeting, if he does not have any skeleton in his cupboard”.

He said: “Unknown to the national chairman, the last two NWC meetings were properly recorded and the record shows the contributions of each and every member of the NWC at the meetings.

“Chief Odigie-Oyegun should tell the world why he brushed aside the suggestion of the National Youth leader Dasuki Jalo, who suggested that the party should submit an interim name to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) pending the time a political solution will be found to the matter.

“But Odigie-Oyegun and few others, who benefited from the corruption that produced Rotimi Akeredolu as governorship candidate did not see wisdom in what the national youth leader said.

“Chief Odigie-Oyegun’s few responses to the many allegations raised by our leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, can never hold water. For example, the chairman and his cohort contradicted themselves when Odigie-Oyegun said there was no voting, but he forgot that the National Vice Chairman Hilliard Eta told reporters that there was voting, which is in agreement with the position of the party’s Southwest National Vice Chairman Chief Pius Akinyelure, who also said the NWC members actually voted on the Ondo State Governorship Appeal Panel Report.”

He quoted Odigie-Oyegun as saying in his response that “voting on the issue became unnecessary and never took place in view of NWC’s rejection of the Appeal Committee’s report, while the Southsouth Vice Chairman Hilliard Eta had said before we met on the last day for the submission of name to INEC, we had met three days earlier. In that meeting, there were two reports before the NWC. That of the appeal committee was voted on. That day, we were 14 in number, not 11 as we have it in the media.

“After that, we mandated our national chairman and secretary to go out and do wider consultations so that we can have a political solution to the heated environment the situation has caused the party”.

He asked: “Now, who is deceiving who? In another clime, Chief Odigie-Oyegun would have voluntarily resigned as the national chairman of APC to allow someone else correct the damage he had done to the ruling party.

“But it is not too late. Our National leader Tinubu has spoken that Odigie-Oyegun should step aside, and that is the opinion of larger percentage of leaders and members of APC. It is expected of our national chairman to do the needful before the evidences of many evils done to the party will be made public.”

He asked all lovers of APC “to disregard Chief Odigie-Oyegun’s “made-to-believe-lies” because the true position of what transpired at the NWC meeting had been revealed by the National Vice Chairman (Southwest) Chief Pius Akinyelure.

“It is surprising that Odigie-Oyegun made mention of party constitution in the process of removing the national chairman, but the same Odigie-Oyegun has never obeyed the party’s constitution in calling for NEC meeting as expected and by allowing the deputy national officers to act in absence of their bosses. My case is a perfect example. Odigie-Oyegun must go!”

ALL Progressives Congress’ (APC’s) Deputy National Publicity Secretary Comrade Timi Frank was detained yesterday by men of the Directorate of State Security at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport on arrival from France.

Following his experience with the DSS agents, he said: “As I speak, this is a very serious issue. My life is under threat and it is very important to let you know that if anything happens to me from today, the Nigerian security agencies must be held responsible.”

Frank told reporters that he was detained for over one hour by the security agents at the airport’s Immigration point and later released without anybody saying anything to him.

The APC chieftain said he decided to share his experience with Nigerians, since as the nation gets closer to next year’s elections, “there is a form of crackdown on some opposition leaders by the security agencies, including the DSS, who are now being used to harass and intimidate opposition leaders.”

He explained that his detention was another strategy the agency had adopted to intimidate opposition leaders.

But he assured that no amount of intimidation from the DSS or any other security agency will stop him from speaking out.

His words: “I arrived at the airport at about 5pm on Tuesday on my way from Paris, France. At the Immigration point where they normally stamp the passport, I was stopped by a lady who walked to me with three others in mufti. As soon as I dropped my passport, she ceased the passport and asked me to move aside. I asked why and she said it was an instruction which I must obey.

“As a law abiding citizen, I obeyed and moved aside. Without telling me anything, she took me to where other security agents were sitting and said that I should sit there, and asked the other SSS people there to keep me in their custody until she gets further clearance.

“I asked the man sitting beside me shy I was being treated like a member of Boko Haram?

“So, I have decided to let Nigerians know that as we get closer to the 2015 elections, there is a form of crackdown on some opposition leaders by the security agencies, including the DSS, which is now being used to harass and intimidate opposition leaders in Nigeria.

“This maybe the first step. For me, it may be a small one, but I can assure you that this is another strategy they have adopted to intimidate opposition leaders. Let me also assure you that no amount of intimidation from security agents will stop me.

“Despite being the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the APC, I am also an activist. I have been talking and fighting for the right of Nigerians. I have been fighting against corruption in this country.

“No amount of intimidation from the DSS or any other security agency will stop me from speaking and not even the Presidency.

“As I speak, this is a very serious issue. My life is under threat and it is very important to let you know that if anything happens to me from today, the Nigerian security agencies must be held responsible. The job of the SSS is to protect Nigerians and not to harass Nigerians or the opposition.