In a move that is bound to revive speculations that all is not well within the governing All Progressives Congress, APC, the party’s deputy national publicity secretary, Comrade Timi Frank, has carpeted the national chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, over his comment that it would be difficult to get someone to fill the position of national publicity secretary of the party.
Mr. Oyegun had said on Monday at a press briefing to announce his resumption of duties after taking 10 days leave to rest that all arrangements had been concluded to conduct congresses through which a substantive spokesperson for the party would emerge.
He said: “The issue is getting somebody that can be as close as possible to the outstanding performance of the present Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed”.
Mr. Mohammed was the APC spokesman until his appointment as minister.
But Frank, in a statement Wednesday, said he disagreed with Oyegun with regards to the replacement of Mohammed.
He described the statement as “reckless, baseless and unwarranted”.
He said, “I am the deputy national publicity secretary of the party and as such can act in the absence of the national publicity secretary. I am also qualified to act as a substantive publicity secretary of the party”.
He said the statement was “malicious, insulting and meant to discredit my person as well as the party, by saying it is difficult to fill the office from the present calibre of party men and women we have”.
Frank also said “As a good party man, Chief Odigie-Oyegun ought to have informed the public about the next convention date to fill all vacancies”, and not use the medium to discredit him and the party.
“I like to use this medium to call on him to retrieve the statement and desist from making further malicious statements in the future”, Frank said.
