National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr John Odigie-Oyegun, has distanced himself from protest on Tuesday by some youths against a national leader of the party, Chief Bola Tinubu.
The All Progressives Congress Youths Democratic Frontiers (APCYDF) in Abuja protested at the National Headquarters of APC against Tinubu’s demand for Odigie-Oyegun’s resignation.
Tinubu had on Sept. 25 accused the APC national chairman of wrongdoing in the gubernatorial primary election of the party for forthcoming governorship poll in Ondo state.
But the protesting youths accused Tinubu of high-handedness, saying that he was behaving like an “emperor’’ in the party.
The APCYDF National Coordinator, Mr Salahudeen Lukman, who led the protest, accused Tinubu of undermining President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption fight.
“It should be stated categorically that we are no longer comfortable with the whims and caprices of Tinubu,’’ he said.
Odigie-Oyegun dismissed insinuations that he instigated the protest and expressed displeasure over the reported protest against Tinubu.
He promised to investigate the incident with a view to finding out those behind it.
“God forbid, anybody who knows me knows that that is not my style. I am equally shocked and I’m going to look into it and find out why and who is behind it,’’ he said.
On the just-concluded Edo governorship election won by APC’s candidate, Mr Godwin Obaseki, the chairman described it as a referendum on the performance of the party’s government in the state.
According to him, the result of the election is a clear indication that Nigerians have faith and confidence in President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.
“Well, it was a hard fought election that was clear. Two things really, it was more of a referendum first on the performance of the governor, and second, on the quality of our candidate.
“And, most importantly, given the economic situation, it was an opportunity for us to measure the continued popularity and acceptability of our president.
“What it indicated is that by and large, the people of this country still have faith and confidence in the fact that President Muhammadu Buhari can fix their situation,’’ he said.
– NAN
