LEAKED LETTER: REAL REASON WHY BUHARI TOLD OYEGUN TO IGNORE TINUBU
LEAKED
LETTER: REAL REASON WHY BUHARI TOLD OYEGUN TO IGNORE TINUBU
Facts emerged on Monday concerning last week’s meeting
between President Muhammadu Buhari and Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, National
Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The meeting was reportedly convened on account of the letter
written by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, a national leader of the party and chairman of
the party’s reconciliation committee.
It was held less than 24 hours after Tinubu’s letter to the
national chairman, in which he accused Odigie-Oyegun of sabotaging his efforts
aimed at reconciling aggrieved party members as directed by the president.
The letter, entitled, ‘Actions and conduct weakening the
party from within’, was also copied President Buhari, Vice President Yemi
Osinbajo; Senate President Bukola Saraki, and House of Representatives Speaker,
Yakubu Dogara.
Speaking in confidence with Independent newspaper on the
matter, a member of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) said the
president, who was not happy that the content of the letter was leaked to the
public, simply asked Odigie-Oyegun to ignore Tinubu and refrain from replying
in like manner.
He added that many chieftains of the party believed that
Asiwaju Tinubu – by allegedly leaking the content of the letter – was doing the
party more harm than good and subjecting it to more ridicule amongst Nigerians.
Odigie-Oyegun, who replied Tinubu’s letter shortly after the
meeting with the president, merely expressed gratitude to Tinubu for wishing
him well, saying Tinubu should rest assured of his support towards ensuring the
success of the task given to him by the president.
The letter, dated February 23, 2018, reads: “I thank you for
your letter, dated February 21, 2018, for your prayers and good wishes for my
health.
“I wish you the same and pray that our good God keeps you
strong and grants you His peace.
“Let me once again formally congratulate you on the
peace-making assignment Mr. President has entrusted you with.
“It is most challenging but I believe you will ultimately
justify the confidence reposed in you by Mr. President.
“In this, you have my full support. Be assured, dear
Asiwaju, of my highest regards now and always.”
A source to Independent; “There is no truth in the report
that President Buhari, during his meeting with the national chairman, asked
members of the National Working Committee to fully cooperate with Asiwaju
Tinubu and give him everything he (Tinubu) asked for in carrying out the
reconciliation assignment.”
The source added: “During the meeting, the president simply
told Odigie-Oyegun to ignore him and not reply him in like manner.
“He believed Asiwaju’s letter had already caused the party a
great embarrassment and matters will get worse if Odigie-Oyegun replied him in
like manner.
“That is why Odigie-Oyegun’s reply to Tinubu was very brief,
and if you notice he never spoke with newsmen after the meeting with the
president.
“It was part of what they discussed, because anything he
said, the press may misinterpret or misquote him.
“But for the president’s intervention who asked him to
ignore Tinubu, Odigie-Oyegun would have given it back to him fire-for-fire.”
Another member of the party’s NWC from the North said though
he supported Asiwaju Tinubu when the president appointed him as the head of the
reconciliation team, he became annoyed when the former Lagos governor allegedly
leaked what was meant to be a private letter to the public.
He said many leaders of the party who had earlier supported
Tinubu now want him dropped and a neutral person appointed to head the
reconciliation committee.
“When Tinubu was appointed by the president to head the
reconciliation team, I was one of the first people who commended the move,
saying he has the charisma and experience needed to bring the party together
even though I know he was one way or the other directly or indirectly involved
in the crisis.
“But I can tell you that his action has further polarised
the party.”
“Look at what his letter has caused. Members of the NWC, led
by Chief Odigie-Oyegun, are not happy for labelling them as saboteurs.
“The opposition which was jittery when they heard about the
reconciliation suddenly became happy when they saw the letter he wrote.
“To me, the letter by Asiwaju was written in bad taste
because he should have directed it to President Buhari alone, talk to the
president about it on phone, or meet privately with him to report Odigie-Oyegun
if he felt he was not giving him enough cooperation. Why write to Odigie-Oyegun
and copy the whole world?” he asked.
On the demand for the resignation of the NWC by Tinubu, he
said: “That is a dream that cannot come true. Asiwaju should know that he is no
longer in ACN where his word was law.
“This is APC, a merger of several political parties and,
mind you, members of the NWC are duly elected and not selected by any
individual. We know the game he is trying to play but I can assure you that it
is not going to work.”