Odigie-Oyegun: Why I quit APC chairmanship race
News & Trends •
now that the convention committee has invited interested aspirants to obtain forms to contest various national positions in our party it has become necessary for me to state my position1 chief john odigie-oyegun national chairman of the all progressives congress apc has said that he will not be re-contesting the national chairmanship position in the forthcoming national convention slated for june 23 in the partys interest1 however he said that the tenure extension that was hitherto agreed by the partys national executive committee nec suffered a set-back following president muhammadu buharis opposition1 according to him the tenure extension would have helped to stabilise the party in the face of some of its challenges and may have prevented the crisis that followed its recent congresses in some states of the federation1 he said that some of the party leaders ought to have considered the tenure extension to be in the best interest of the party1 this he said would have ensured that the party go into the 2019 elections as a united fighting force rather than one that was potentially weakened by internal conflicts arising from competitive congresses and convention1 odigie-oyegun urged party leaders to close ranks and to make the party a strong fighting force ahead of the 2019 general elections1 he stated this on friday night in abuja while speaking with newsmen adding that his decision was taken after wide consultation with close political associates and family members and not because of intimidation1 i have consulted widely with my family friends and associates even though i had the desire to re-contest as the national chairman of the party1 i have decided that it is ultimately in the best interest of the party for me to withdraw from the race he said1 i believe that the party faces difficult days ahead and all critical stakeholders in its leadership would be required to bind together for a common purpose1 he advised that a less-contentious convention would be better for the party adding that he had always sought to be part of solving the partys problems1 i do not intend to be part of the problem for apc to solve. it is for this reason that i hereby declare that i will not be seeking re-election as the national chairman1 however i will continue to perform my functions as the national chairman of the party till my tenure officially ends on monday june 25 when a new set of party executives will be inaugurated odigie-oyegun said1