The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, has again spoken on the state of finance of the party.
“Just like the economy, the party too is suffering from the stresses and strains of funding just like every institution in our polity,” he told Vanguard.
“That also goes to tell you that we are not a party that withdraws money from security votes or from any government agency.
“I saw reports that we have written to the president to rescue the party. That is not part of his national duties and he has no intention because there are no funds from which he can draw from.
“The party has to come up with fresh and innovative ways as to how to raise resources for its operations and that, we have done. The plan is ready and will go into operation in the next one month or two.
On the controversy surrounding the 2016 budget, he said the issue was totally “overplayed.”
“The budget was never missing, the main document was totally intact and when the President presented the budget given the nature of the load of work they have to do and in the circumstances at which they were done, they were likely to be a few corrections to be made in this process and all Mr President effected were the necessary corrections.”
“There may still be more corrections as the process continues in the National Assembly. I just see the criticisms surrounding the budget as one by the opposition to take a bash at the government, what happened is nothing more than suggested corrections to the addendum to the budget that had earlier been presented.”
Oyegun, who also spoke on defections to the party, said everybody is free to join, adding that the essential fabric of APC is strong enough to withstand any attempt by anyone to undermine it from within.
“In any case, you cannot join the APC without subscribing to its goals and objectives and when you join the party today, you do not expect to take over reign of power because there are people there already.
“You still have to prove yourself that you’re loyal and reliable member of the party. You cannot just come and become a leader of the party in one day, you have to earn your way to become trusted with leadership, because when you come, you are meeting people who are occupying the leadership positions.”
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