By Bode Olagoke
Abuja
Acting national publicity secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Timi Frank, has declared that the party’s national chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, was no longer in control of the party as he was being controlled by some external forces.
Frank, who spoke on Channels Television’s Sunrise programme yesterday, added that the disunity in the party was affecting President Muhammadu Buhari’s campaign against corruption.
He said the APC currently lacked competent leadership that could rally all members into a unified front and proffer lasting solutions to the internal wrangling dogging it, adding that the party’s national chairman was a mere front for certain powerful members of the party, who, he claimed, were in control.
He said: “As far as I am concerned, he is not in control. He’s being controlled by some forces. But we cannot continue to have a national chairman that is being controlled by people. We need a national chairman that can pull us together. We need a national chairman that can unify this party.
“The party, as at today, is not united; there is an internal crisis disturbing us. I don’t think, as a party, we are in a better state to truly support the President in the fight against corruption.”
Citing how he had been precluded from acting as the APC’s deputy national publicity secretary since the substantial publicity secretary, Lai Mohammed, was appointed Information Minister, Frank said Odigie-Oyegun informed him that a few people told him (Oyegun) not to allow him (Frank) to act in that role.
Frank insisted that the party might be voted out of power in 2019, if its leadership failed to resolve the crisis.
“I am meant to be acting publicity secretary of the party. Why is the party depriving me (of that),” he asked, adding: “If you ask the party chairman, he would tell you that certain persons in the party do not want you to speak. Who are these certain persons?”
