Former National Publicity Secretary of the defunct New Peoples Democratic Party (nPDP), Chukwuemeka Eze, has upbraided erstwhile nPDP National Chairman, Kawu Baraje, and ex National Secretary, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, over their letter to President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC), alleging marginalisation.

Eze, in a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja, expressed sadness over the letter and the ultimatum, stressing that the writers cannot speak for him and many other former nPDP members.

“After going through their letter of May 9, 2018 to the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, the need to straighten some of the facts raised in the letter becomes imperative to at least to douse the unnecessary tension the letter has so far generated in the polity”, he said.

“It is unfortunate that Alhaji Baraje and Prince Oyinlola could send this type of letter without recourse to me or most of the stakeholders of the movement, considering our key roles in making the nPDP the beautiful bride it turned out to be and in bringing the administration of Dr. Jonathan Goodluck down to its knees after teaming up with like minds in the mega party, APC.

“This letter has generated so much unnecessary tension in the polity that some sections of the media and polity have already concluded that this will lead to implosion of APC and probably to the downfall of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari and the return of PDP to power.

“Without mincing words, I wish to assure Nigerians that the letter though engineered by some of the key actors of the nPDP looking for attention from President Buhari to negotiate for relevance during and after the 2019 general elections but using a body that has already got dissolved in the bigger body of APC, is not in order and acceptable to some of us who risked our lives in projecting the ideals and vision of the body.

“Prince Oyinola was appointed the Chairman of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) while Alhaji Baraje is occasionally given one national assignment or the other. While he has resigned to face his new political movement as one of the key actors of General Olusegun Obasanjo’s National Coalition Movement that has dissolved into African Democratic Congress (ADC) party, Alhaji Baraje probably is looking for a higher form of reward or trying to raise the stakes in negotiating with those prompting him into another political movement.

“In case some of us may have forgotten, the essence of teaming up with other progressive forces to unseat the PDP administration in 2015 was based on our collective resolve to fight corruption. Seeing how far the Buhari Administration has gone in this regard and bringing back hope to Nigerians, it becomes sad that some of us for political exigency want to go back to our vomit. Some of us should be excused from such venture because we will stay in APC to continue the struggle salvaging of our nation, Nigeria.

“The issue of marginalisation: It is unwise for anybody to think that in a setting like ours, everybody would be accommodated or assigned a political position. The claim of marginalisation easily collapses when we compare the components of APC and the key offices assigned to these components. In APC, we have Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and, of course, New PDP.

“While the Office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria went to President Buhari (CPC), the Vice President went to Prof Yemi Osiabanjo (ACN), Senate President went to Dr Bukola Saraki (nPDP), and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara (nPDP). Can a group occupying the third and fourth major offices in Nigeria be rightly said to be marginalised?

“In the National Executive Committee (NEC) of APC, New PDP has not less than seven members with the National Publicity Secretary of the party a member of the nPDP, so where does marginalisation come in while most of our members were elected Governors in various States, Senators, Members of House of Representatives, appointed Ministers, Chairmen and members of Boards, Ambassadors, etc?

“The only challenge is that those privileged to be appointed or assigned one office or the other abandoned most of the members of the group to wallow in poverty. Turning around to blame the leadership of APC or the government of President Buhari is a misplaced priority,” he said.