Oyegun’s tenure extension shows APC as an undemocratic party – Timi Frank

Controversial deputy national publicity secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Timi Frank, has said that the elongation of the tenure of John Odigie-Oyegun as national chairman of the party has shown that the APC is undemocratic.

He was reacting to Tuesday’s decision of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the APC to extend the tenure of Oyegun and state chairmen of the party by 12 months.

Frank who said that he was disappointed with the development, added that the decision of the party has shown that the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is better than the ruling APC.

This was contained in a statement Frank released on Wednesday, vowing that “very soon … some of us will have to take decision against some of these anti-democratic tendencies of some people in APC.

The statement read, “I am personally disappointed with the tenure extension of 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 challenged anybody to tell me which part of the APC constitution has been religiously obeyed in the past? This is 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’m known for. This decision is against the wish of the majority but for the oppressors within the party.”

“Even when the presidency had appointed the national leader of APC to reconcile all the aggrieved members, the tenure elongation clearly show that the party is going nowhere beyond 2019 because if they didn’t believe in Tinubu’s reconciliatory panel why did they set 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 do not mean well for APC.

READ ALSO : Tinubu loses out in APC power play as NEC extends Oyegun’s tenure

“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.”

Meanwhile the chairman, APC Governors’ Forum and Zamfara State governor, Abdulaziz Yari, has described the extension decision by the party’s NEC as a “mere expression of interest”, saying that it is only at the national convention of the APC that such constitutional amendment could be carried out.

The governor in a statement on Tuesday night, said “What has been done is a mere expression of interest. The power of the convention to extend tenure is exercised only by way of a constitution amendment.

“The power of the National Executive Committee of our party cannot go beyond doing so by way of constitution amendment.

“Article 30 of the APC constitution states that the ‘constitution and the schedules hereto can be amended only by the National Convention of the party. The process of amending the constitution is also expressly provided in Article 30 sub section 2.

“What was done today (yesterday) was only an expression of a desire to extend the tenure of the Chief Oyegun-led national executive.”

 

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