John Oyegun, former national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), says there will be acrimony in the ruling party in 2023 general election if the party fails to resolve the internal wrangling rocking it.

Oyegun said this during an interview with ARISE NEWS on Friday, adding that there’s likelihood of the party being defeated if it does not put its house in order before the 2023 general election.

The former governor of Edo state said the problems would emanate Largely because President Muhammadu Buhari, around whom the party had woven its change agenda, would not be eligible to contest.

The former APC chairman also debunked allegations that the ruling party didn’t fulfill any of the promises it made during electioneering in its first term.

He added that the change mantra was still on course and had morphed into the current next level agenda.

He said “When the APC was formed, all the predictions were that it will implode in another year or two, but the APC did not implode

“The APC will have issues in 2023 and it has to start now, it has time to put its acts together for 2023. In 2023, there will be no President Buhari.”

“We never told you that we have that magic switch which immediately our president is turned into office, he flicks it, the whole of the country has change. No, it is a process and let me admit, the realities on ground turned out to be a little bit more difficult than we thought,” he said.

“Even as we move to the very next level, we are carrying change with us.”

Oyegun, who recently celebrated his 80th birthday, said he invited leaders of the opposition party just to reiterate tha politicians are not foes.

“I wanted to make a point so I invited people across the party divide because we are not enemies, we all want to govern Nigeria. We may have different methods, but that does not make us mortal enemies. So I thought that was an opportunity to make that point,” he said.

On the crisis within the party and Edo state, Oyegun said the party must work towards a consensus leadership and uphold the Supremacy of the nation’s and party’s constitution.

He said “We cannot this crisis in Edo state or even in the party. My message is that we must try to achieve a leadership that is by compromise, by agreement and that is inclusive. We must let the constitution, both of the party and the nation to be our guide

“I have always believed that things can be done better. That our politics does not have to be as aggressive as it is.

“When we embarked on the doctrine of change, for me, this meant change for everybody in the nation, change in our attitude, change in our respect for law, change in our respect for due process, change in our respect for what is right and our ability to differentiate it from what is wrong. And I offered myself for leadership because I wanted to contribute to that process, that our politics can be different.”