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Oyegun succumbs, quits APC chairmanship race

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Oyegun succumbs, quits chairmanship race

In apparent reaction to clear signals from the Presidency, the chairman of Nigeria’s ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC), John Odigie-Oyegun, has opted out of the chairmanship race scheduled for some time in June.

Oyegun, who has been in the saddle for three years, addressed newsmen on Friday night in Abuja where he announced his intention to withdraw from re-contesting the party chairmanship.

Efforts to get Oyegun out of power has been led by one of the party’s most influential forces, Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu, who had been at loggerheads with the embattled chairman since he was accused of shoddy handling of the gubernatorial primaries in Ondo State which led to the emergence of incumbent governor, Rotimi Akeredolu.

However, Oyegun announcing his withdrawal for the chairmanship race claimed that the decision was borne out of genuine love he has for the party and the need for APC to reposition and get better prepared for the 2019 general elections challenges.

“Even though, I had the desire to re-contest as national chairman of the party, I have decided that it is ultimately in the best interest of the party for me to withdraw from the race,” he said.

He said that he, like most APC members, felt it would have been better to allow the current party executives at all levels to continue in office, which according to him would have saved the ruling party from the increased level of conflict witnessed during the party’s nationwide ward, local government and state congresses.

He however noted that if the elongation of the party executives at all levels was allowed to stand, “we probably have achieved our objective, but we would only have succeeded also in postponing the evil days as it were.”

READ ALSO: 2019: Even though APC is in power, we can’t compete financially with the opposition— Buhari

He added, “In retrospect, I am inclined to agree with the viewpoints that even a young political party as ours need to be subjected to the crucible of these contestations, which in any case, is the hallmark of progressive politics.

“In the end, even as difficult as the situation may appear at the beginning, the experience we would draw from managing the contesting interests, can only help to make our party stronger and more resilient.”

Oyegun said that he had only bowed out of the chairmanship race and not his office, noting that he would continue as APC chairman until the official expiration of his tenure on June 25 when fresh executive members will be inaugurated.

 

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