.. Warns Nigerians against recycled reputations
Veteran journalist and politician, Senator Babafemi Ojudu, has called out former All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman, John Odigie Oyegun, over his defection to the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and his perceived failure to take responsibility for Nigeria’s political decline.
Ojudu made the call in a letter, titled “An Open Letter to Papa John Odigie Oyegun: A Time for Reflection,” accuses Oyegun of contributing to the erosion of internal democracy in the APC and now presenting himself as a “cleansed elder” in the opposition without accountability.
Oyegun was a former Edo State governor and APC national chairman, who is currently leading an ongoing national coalition movement with other top politicians in the country.
Ojudu, a former APC governorship aspirant in Ekiti State, did not mince words. He wrote: “You were National Chairman of the APC for over four years. You didn’t inherit a broken party. You helped build what it has become. If the party is struggling today, you must own a fair share of the blame.”
He specifically referenced the 2018 APC primaries in Ekiti, where he claimed Oyegun disregarded a screening committee’s report to favour a preferred candidate.
“You discarded the report—not because it was wrong, but because it did not favour your choice,” Ojudu alleged. “That decision altered Ekiti’s politics, with consequences people still live with today.”
Ojudu also criticised Oyegun’s role as chairman of the APC’s 2023 presidential screening committee, claiming the process lacked transparency. “I booked a room near the screening venue at Transcorp Hilton… I told those around me: ‘Given his history, I doubt John Oyegun will do what is fair.’ And I was right.”
He challenged Oyegun to release the committee’s report, saying: “Again, the committee’s work was buried. Again, Nigerians were denied transparency.”
Questioning Oyegun’s motives for joining the ADC at nearly 89 years old, Ojudu dismissed the move as personal reinvention rather than genuine political reform. “This defection isn’t about democracy. It’s not about saving Nigeria. It’s about reinvention—personal reinvention, not national renewal.”
He warned young Nigerians against what he called “recycled reputations” in politics, urging them to scrutinise leaders’ past actions. “A better Nigeria will not come from unexamined histories,” he wrote.
Ojudu traced Oyegun’s political journey—from the All People’s Party (APP) to the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), APC, Social Democratic Party (SDP), and now ADC—asking pointedly: “Papa, ki ló dé? Se atijẹ yìí na ni?” (What is it, Papa? Is it always about survival?).
He argued that Oyegun had multiple opportunities to strengthen Nigeria’s democracy but instead prioritised loyalty to power over principle. “You could have set standards. You could have elevated leadership. Instead, you chose impunity.”
Closing the letter, Ojudu made it clear that his critique was not personal but a matter of historical accountability. “This letter is not about bitterness. It is about memory. And duty.”
He warned that history would judge Oyegun’s legacy, regardless of his political realignments. “You may change your party, but history remembers your choices. And history, like conscience, is not so easily appeased.”
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