The national leader of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu, has given reasons why the party opted for Chief John Oyegun as the National Chairman rather than Chief Tom Ikimi.
In a statement dated August 31 but released on Tuesday in Lagos, Mr Tinubu dismissed Ikimi as an unreliable man lacking principles, who could have betrayed the APC.
“It was clear to practically let everyone who had the interest of the party at heart know that we simply could not have a man of Tom Ikimi’s antecedents as Chair of the party.
“As chairman of the NRC, one of the only two political parties in the country under the military transition programme, Tom Ikimi not only connived with the then military regime to annul the elections, terminate the democratic process and sell off his party.
“He became Abacha’s Foreign Minister, convincing the world that heinous state murders like the hanging of Ken Saro Wiwa were just acts! If Ikimi were the Chair of APC the party would have to sleep with both eyes open lest its chairman sell off the party before day break.
“No matter what anyone may say about me, it is unlikely that I can be accused of supporting incompetent or morally light-weight individuals for important political positions. My philosophy is to put the best forward, men and women of competence and integrity,” Tinubu said.
He described Ikimi’s lengthy letter as that filled with falsehood, cheap blackmail and abuse.
He also accused Ikimi of playing out the PDP script and asked Nigerians to ignore him as the PDP has nothing to offer Nigerians.
“He was never sincerely committed to the party. He was always playing out a PDP script. He only wanted the chairmanship of the party as a bargaining chip for negotiations with his benefactors.
“His defection purportedly on account of the loss of the chairmanship of the party is a mere subterfuge, once his ploy failed he had no other objective within the party, I knew he would go back to his sponsors.
“He is back in the company he deserves. And APC is better for it,” Tinubu concluded.