• You lack integrity to speak on good governance
Senior Special Assistant to Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State on Media and Strategic Communications, Prince Oliver Okpala, has berated the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), John Odigie-Oyegun.
The governor’s aide said Chief Oyegun lacked integrity and moral ground to speak on good governance, which he alleged he did not have its records.
Okpala was reacting to media reports credited to the APC national chairman where he urged Governor Obiano to “write his handing over notes and start preparing to vacate office,”.
The SSA, who said such statement lacked democratic spirit, called on all Nigerians, especially the Anambra people to be vigilant and prepare against “any evil plot by Oyegun-led APC to perpetrate rigging in the forthcoming election.”
In a statement in Abuja yesterday, Okpala said Chief Oyegun’s comment truly shows that the APC leader “is a political misfit who should have taken a second look at his unpopularity of leading such a ruling party like APC.
“This is a former governor who has no traceable achievement to his name as far as his tenure in Edo State is concerned . Apart from high level of thuggery, brigandage and insecurity, no one can recall any meaningful development recorded during Oyegun’s government in Edo State.
“It was also during his era that a very low level of governance was introduced to that state, a clear departure from the pragmatic and result-oriented leadership style of the likes of Professor Ambrose Ali and Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia, both of blessed memory.
“It was during Oyegun’s tenure that the song of ‘no money’ for projects became the regular cry in governance circle in Edo State. He could not think outside the box.
“Many Nigerians still remember that Oyegun also won the unenviable record of the governor during whose tenure Edo State recorded the lowest score in WAEC. The records are there for all to see. So what is the former governor talking about when it comes to good governance?
“Indeed Oyegun has no moral right to speak on the issue of good governance in Anambra State or any part of the country. If what we practise is a democracy, then the will and wish of the people should be respected.”
On his leadership of the APC, Okpala said: “many Nigerians also know how he emerged as national chairman of the APC. It was a clear case of political imposition which has left the party prostrate till date. As we speak, the APC under his watch cannot hold meetings of its crucial organs. No wonder its house is in disarray.”
The statement recalled how the former vice president Atiku Abubakar described the lack of internal democracy in the country’s political party system with APC under Oyegun in view.
According to the former vice president: “You cannot build democracy on a substructure of dictatorship and intolerance.
“A political party that constricts the freedom of its members, cannot really offer freedom to the citizens of the nation. Democracy is not just an idea, it is a cultural practice.
“For a number of years now, we have had political parties, even governing ones, which hardly hold meetings of their important organs, including those meant for the democratic selection of their leadership, or even constitute institutions prescribed in their constitution. That is not party building, but party bullying,” he stressed.