A high ranking officer of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Wednesday flayed the extension of the tenure of the Chief John Odigie-Oyegun led National Working Committee, NWC for another 12 months even as he condemned the APC for discriminating against elements of the New Peoples Democratic Party, nPDP who helped to form the party.
Timi Frank, the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the party who is estranged from the mainstream of the NWC said the party has proved to the world that it does not respect even its own laid-down rules and guidelines.
Chief Odigie-Oyegun, however, was quick to rebuff the claim saying the party did not expect everyone to tag along with the decision of the National Executive Committee, NEC, saying people were entitled to support any cause they believe in.
The APC NEC meeting had on Tuesday voted in favour of the tenure elongation by 12 months for all the executives of the party at all levels.
Reacting to the development, Frank described the tenure elongation as laughable, saying it has shown that the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party PDP is far better than APC when it comes to internal democracy.
“I am personally disappointed with the tenure extension of the Chief John Oyegun led leadership. This has clearly shown that APC is an undemocratic party. A party which has been in existence for three years but has never obeyed its own constitution. I challenge anybody to tell me which part of the APC constitution has been religiously obeyed in the past? This has shown again the difference between PDP and APC, but I know that the former is better.
“I will not relent in speaking the truth which I am known for. This decision is against the wish of the majority but for the oppressors within the party.”
While making reference to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s call for the resignation of Chief Oyegun’s NWC, Frank said: “Even when the presidency had appointed the National Leader of APC to reconcile all the aggrieved members, the tenure elongation clearly shows that the party is going nowhere beyond 2019 because if they didn’t believe in Tinubu’s reconciliatory panel why did they set it up at all?
“How can you keep a man that lacks capacity to lead a governing political party for another twelve months? This has shown that those who took such decision are selfish and does not mean well for APC.”
Frank also observed that injustice against most members of former New PDP that eventually joined APC were clear indications that the governing party does not believe in democratic tendencies.
“Some of us that came from PDP have not been treated well, even the positions being held today by the Senate President Bukola Saraki and Speaker Yakubu Dogara were forcefully taken.
“Time will tell very soon when some of us will have to take decision against some of these anti-democratic tendencies of some people in APC,” Frank stated.
