By Akinwale Kasali
Former Chairman of All Progressive Congress, APC, John Odigie Oyegun has predicted that the APC will face difficulties come 2023 after the expiration of President Muhammadu Buhari administration.
The former governor of Edo State made this statement in an interview, saying that the APC will have serious issues to contend with as the President Buhari whom the party had tailored its change agenda on, will not be qualified to contest, putting the party in a fix and a serious situation in 2023.
Oyegun stressed that the party needs to put its house in order and solve its internal differences before the next election to forestall disaster that could see the party become history.
He added that when the APC was formed, predictions were made that it would implode in a year or two, but the party waxed stronger.
“The APC will have issues in 2023 and it has to start now to avoid it, it has time to put its acts together for 2023. In 2023, there will be no President Buhari.”
The former APC chairman dismissed allegations that the ruling party failed to accomplish any of its promises during its first term.
Oyegun said that the change mantra is still being carried along in the current next level agenda due to the determination of the Buhari administration, but this will end as he leaves the saddle in 2023.
“We never told you that we have that magic switch which immediately our president is turned into office, he flicks it, the whole of the country changes. No, it is a process and let me admit, the realities on ground turned out to be a little bit more difficult than we thought.
“Even as we move to the very next level, we are carrying change with us”, he said.
Oyegun, who recently celebrated his 80th birthday, said he invited leaders of the opposition party for the sake of emphasising that politicians are not enemies.
“I wanted to make a point so I invited people from across party divide because we are not enemies, we all want to govern Nigeria. We may have different methods, but that does not make us mortal enemies. So I thought that was an opportunity to make that point,” he said.
As regards the crisis within the Edo State APC, Oyegun said such should not be allowed to disrupt the goals of the party and the state.
He said he offered himself as the leader of the party during the 2015 elections because he wanted to contribute to the change agenda.
“We cannot allow this crisis in Edo state or even in the party. My message is that we must try to achieve a leadership that is by compromise, by agreement and that is inclusive. We must let the constitution, both of the party and the nation to be our guide.
“I have always believed that things can be done better. That our politics does not have to be as aggressive as it is.
“When we embarked on the doctrine of change, for me, this meant change for everybody in the nation, change in our attitude, change in our respect for law, change in our respect for due process, change in our respect for what is right and our ability to differentiate it from what is wrong. And I offered myself for leadership because I wanted to contribute to that process, that our politics can be different”, he submitted.
