Accept my sympathy over loss of senior APC member, Buhari tells Oyegun

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has openly sympathised with the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, over the resignation of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar from the party.

Just before he delivered his address to inaugurate the minimum wage committee, he turned to Odigie-Oyegun saying, “accept my sympathy for losing a senior member of your party.”

But he did not mention Atiku by name even though it was apparent that the former APC chieftain was the subject of the sympathy.

Atiku’s resignation from the ruling party was made public last week.

The former vice-president has reportedly been consulting with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and is likely to join the opposition party any moment from now.

Abubakar lost the 2015 presidential ticket of the APC to Buhari but stayed in the party even though he did not join in the campaign for Buhari.

The former vice president had, in a letter to the chairman of the APC in his Jada 1 Ward, Jada in Adamawa State, dated October 18 and which was personally signed by him, announced his retirement.

He stated in the letter that he was hopeful that very soon a number of APC stalwarts would join him to defeat impunity in Nigeria and restore hope.