Chief Tom Ikimi is Political Warhorse when it Comes to Politics.

Tom Ikimi

Chief Tom Ikimi is political warhorse when it comes to politics. He has seen it all as a former National Publicity Secretary of the defunct National Republican Convention and a minister under General Sani Abacha.

He was also there when Gen. Muhammadu Buhari ran against Obasanjo when Prof. Maurice Iwu held sway at INEC. In short, Ikimi has fought many a political battle; some he won, others he was bruised but he came out a better man.

So, it was not surprising when recently he wrote a long letter to his party’s leadership, the All Progressives Congress, APC.

Ikimi has come far to know when danger lurks. For him, the APC was derailing and fast too. He has raised concerns that some critical decisions are shrouded in secrecy. According his letter, he accepted to become Vice National Chairman for the greater benefit of the party but developments have left him befuddled.

The political tactician might just be coming to a new reality; a reality that nothing looks like they seem. Perhaps, age has dimmed his acute sense of the future; maybe he hoped it would be different, but from all intent and purposes, this is one bitter pill he has to take into retirement. Time will tell!

Recently, he said that Tinubu has turned APC into private property and further declared that

no individual claims ownership of PDP like Tinubu is doing in APC.

He said, “The governors and the Tinubu groups decided on a zoning process that was limited only to party offices as well as the choice of individuals to fill them. They proceeded nin a manner that was neither open nor transparent. Most undemocratic and bizarre procedures then prevailed.

“The governors initiated a zoning plan that allocated the national chairman to the South-South. This proposal was reluctantly accepted by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, whose well-known preferred option had been to retain Chief Bisi Akande as the chairman forever. Nevertheless, he in the circumstance, proceeded to draw up a list of his cronies for the entire national executive all by himself. Very strange as this may sound, it was the reality. Nothing was ever referred to the National Interim Executive Council for approval or even information.”

Ikimi also lambasted Tinubu for parading himself as the national leader of the APC, saying no one gave him such a position. He added that it was unfortunate that some members of the party had tried to justify Tinubu’s unilateral appointment of Oyegun as the national chairman as a concession done to him as the national leader.

He said his problem with the ex-governor began when he opposed the Muslim-Muslim presidential and vice presidential ticket of the party.

“Asiwaju Bola Tinubu may recall that mostly for the same reasons I opposed his desire to run as vice presidential candidate to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar under the Action Congress banner in 2007. We settled for Senator Ben Obi from eastern Nigeria.“I know he nurses a grudge against me for the position I took which was strongly supported by leaders from five zones apart from the South-West. I have no regrets whatsoever for my courage to stand up against oppression or dictatorship. No matter what anyone might say against the PDP, no individual claims ownership of that party,”