Ex-Edo governor Oyegun emerges as APC chairman

He emerged as the National Chairman after ex-governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Timipre Sylva, withdrew from the race and ex-Foreign Affairs Minister, Chief Tom Ikimi, who initially insisted on contest, later stepped down as a result of fierce horse-trading among the contending forces in the party to get a consensus candidate and avoid elections.A former […]

He emerged as the National Chairman after ex-governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Timipre Sylva, withdrew from the race and ex-Foreign Affairs Minister, Chief Tom Ikimi, who initially insisted on contest, later stepped down as a result of fierce horse-trading among the contending forces in the party to get a consensus candidate and avoid elections.
A former chief of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Sam Sam Jaja, had earlier in the evening before the commencement of the convention dropped his ambition in support of Oyegun.
Chairman of the APC election sub-committee, Alhaji Kawu Baraje, announced that Oyegun was the only candidate for the position after the withdrawal of the other contestants.
A total of 6,855 delegates were accredited to vote at the convention to their nation officers to replacement the interim leadership steered the ship of the APC since its registration last year.
A PDP decampee and former Ekiti State Governor, Chief Segun Oni, however emerged as the APC Deputy National Chairman South unopposed, while interim national publicity secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed (North Central), was widely expected to retain the post, and Mr. Muiz Banire (South West) was also expected to retain his national legal adviser position he held in interim capacity.
From the horse-trading, it was very obvious that interests of the former legacy parties that collapsed to form APC – the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) and a faction of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), came into play.
While 75-year-old Oyegun was the choice of APC national leader and former Lagos State Governor, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu and many other party chieftains, Sylva was the choice of former Kwara State governor, Senator Bukola Saraki and majority of the state governors.
It was however, not clear if Sylva’s decision to withdraw for Oyegun was at the instance of the governors backing him despite the opposition to his candidacy by those apprehensive of his case with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The rivalry between ex-Governor Ali Modu Sheriff of Borno State and his estranged god-son incumbent Governor Kashim Shettima took a new twist over the contentious national secretary position zoned to the North-east.
The party’s interim national secretary and favorite, Alhaji Tijanni Musa Tumsah, was reportedly pressurized to withdraw his candidacy for Sheriff backed Sir Kashim Imam, prompting the Yobe State government to ask the Borno State APC chairman, Alhaji Mai Malah Buni, to contest against Imam.
The North-East caucus had met earlier on Thursday where they threw their backing behind Imam after Tumsah withdrew his candidature.
It was however, learnt that the outgoing interim national chairman and one time Osun State Governor Chief Bisi Akande had prevailed on Yobe delegates to rescind their decision and back Imam.
Weekly Trust also gathered that the Yobe State APC chairman was reported to have been asked to replace Tumsah so that the post would remain in Yobe, but Borno State members of the party insisted they must have a shot at the post since Tumsah had held it in the interim.
While the emergence of Oni was smooth, the same cannot be said of the position of the deputy national chairman North which was hotly contested by Malam Farouk Adamu Aliyu and interim deputy national secretary and former national secretary of the defunct ANPP, Senator Muhammed Lawal Shuaibu.
It was gathered that ex-Head of State and national leader of the party, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari was reported to be behind Aliyu, while Zamfara State Governor Abdulaziz Yari backed Shuaibu.
Speaking during the opening ceremony of the convention former Vice President, Alhaji  Atiku Abubakar, former ANPP national chairman, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, his CPC counterpart Prince Tony Momoh, and ex-Lagos governor Tinubu commended the APC leadership and members for their doggedness since the mergers of some opposition parties.
“We are gathered here tonight because of the love we have for Nigeria and not because of our personal pursuits. The failure of government is that of the President, because the bulk stops on his desk. They want to polarize us on religion and ethnicity, they tried to brand us negatively because they are incompetent and they want to use their incompetence to deceive us. Let them know that ‘common sense revolution has come’,” Tinubu said.
Sylva who later mounted the podium after the intervention of Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers, said his withdrawal from the chairmanship contest was based on party loyalty and to help deepen democracy. The party however, agreed to go for a ballot to confirm all the other candidates to show that those who emerged are the people’s choices.
Who is John Odigie Oyegun?
John Odigie Oyegun was born 12 August 1939 in Warri, Delta State. He was the governor of Edo State between 1992 and 1993, during the aborted Third Republic. He attended St. Patrick’s College, Asaba, and then went to the University of Ibadan, where he obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Economics. He has served in various capacities as a federal civil servant, working as a development planner.
Political career
Oyegun was elected as civilian governor of Edo State on the platform of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP), during the transition to democracy launched by military President Gen. Ibrahim Babangida and served from January 1992 to November 1993.
He was removed from office after Gen. Sani Abacha seized power in November 1993. Later, he became a leader of the ANPP before he moved to the ACN to support Governor Adams Oshiomhole.
In 2009, he was chairman of the technical working committee of Coalition of Democrats for Electoral Reforms (CODER).