Chairman of the National Republican Convention (NRC) in the botched Third Republic, Chief Tom Ikimi, has announced his withdrawal from the All Progressive Congress (APC).
In a statement obtained by QED, the one-time Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs declared: “I have made the decision to withdraw my membership from the All Progressives Congress (APC) from today, 27th August 2014.”
It happened on the day Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, said APC was stronger after some politicians who didn’t have the interest of the people at heart have excused themselves from the party.
Ikimi, a national chairmanship aspirant of the APC during the party’s National Convention in June has limited his interaction with the party since the emergence of former Edo State Governor, Chief John Oyegun, as national chairman.
Edo-born Ikimi was interested in the position but was allegedly forced to withdraw from the race to pave way for the emergence of Oyegun, the alleged anointed candidate of the national leader of the party and former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
Speaking at a meeting with leaders of the party in Edo South in Benin City, on Monday, Oshiomhole said: “After the party registration, ward, Local, State Congresses and National Congresses, this is the first meeting we are having with you and I think it is a very important meeting and I am happy that you have come here and there is no struggling at the gate about accreditation or fighting. It shows how disciplined our leaders are at the grassroots level”.
Continuing, he said: “The APC is much stronger now than before because those who are in this party now are people who are here not because of what is in it for them or what is in it for me; and this is what distinguishes this party from others. People are in this party now because they believe in the ideals of APC. The meeting will be sustained as a means of evaluating the activities of the party at the grassroots and bridge the communication gap among members.”
