There are strong indications that the
plot to remove the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress,
Mr Adams Oshiomhole, has failed as he is enjoying the backing of a
majority of the state chairmen of the party and other officers.
Investigations by
on Saturday showed that except for states, such as Ogun and Imo, where
the governors were not satisfied with the outcomes of the primaries
conducted by the Oshiomhole-led National Working Committee, most state
chairmen of the party had vowed to resist any plot to remove the
national chairman.
There were reports a few weeks ago that
there was a plot to remove Oshiomhole because of the manner he handled
the party’s primaries, which some governors, including Ibikunle Amosun
(Ogun); Rochas Okorochas (Imo) and Abdulaziz Yari (Zamfara), had
faulted.
A member of the APC NWC, who confided in
one of our correspondents, said the former Edo State governor had not
reached out to state chairmen of the party to stop the plot.
The party chieftain stated, “There is no
reason for him to do that because only two or three states are against
him. Any plan to remove Oshiomhole will fail because he is enjoying the
support of many states. Anybody that is bent on removing him now that
elections are approaching will plunge the party into another crisis that
may affect its chances at the polls.”
The National Leader of the All
Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, said the Oshiomhole’s
position as national chairman is not under any threat despite
allegations that he (Oshiomhole) reportedly collected huge bribes from
some governorship candidates.
The former Lagos State governor said
based on this, he was not lobbying to save Oshiomhole’s job because
there was no basis for it.
Speaking in an interview with our
correspondent on Saturday through his Media Adviser, Mr Tunde Rahman, he
stated that allegations such as the one against the APC chairman were
bound to trail party primaries as those who suffered electoral defeat
would always want to blame somebody for their failure.
“I really don’t understand what you mean
by lobbying. One, His Excellency, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, is at present
out of town. Two, and more importantly is the job of the APC Chairman,
Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, threatened in any way? I don’t think so.
“I’m aware that Chairman Oshiomhole has
met with President Muhammadu Buhari at least twice since these
allegations were made and the President has never indicated he has lost
confidence in his chairman. All that has been said against the chairman
remains mere allegations and he has challenged those who made such
allegations to come forward with evidence.
“Allegations like that will normally
come and this is understandable when you are confronted with primaries
where some lost and some others won.”
Party marching away from impunity – Oyo chapter
The Oyo State chapter of the APC said
the party had stopped impunity. The party’s spokesman in the state, Dr
AbdulAzeez Olatunde, said Oshiomhole had yet to reach out to the party
executives in Oyo to starve off his removal.
Olatunde, who is the Director of Media,
Research and Strategies and Publicity Secretary of the party, stated,
“Don’t forget that we are in the thick of intense politicking where all
manners of decorated lies are being thrown at the national chairman
because of his intimidating character as a former labour leader with
lots of accomplishments.”
“The APC is unshakable. We are marching Nigeria away from the era of impunity,” he added.
No problem with national chair –Ekiti APC chairman
In the same vein, the APC Chairman in
Ekiti State, Paul Omotoso, on his part, said the party in state had no
issue arising from the primaries.
Omotoso said the party did not have any
axe to grind with Oshiomhole over the primaries as “elections in Ekiti
State were conducted and candidates who won were returned and presented
intact to the Independent National Electoral Commission.”
The APC state chairman told Sunday PUNCH
in Ado Ekiti on Saturday that the issues arising from the primaries,
which led to Oshiomhole alleging that some individuals in the party had
ganged up to remove him from office, would be resolved by the party.
He said, “ The national chairman did not
reach out to us to help save his job. It is an internal matter which
the party can handle. Everything will be resolved. Our leaders are
capable.”
In Rivers State, the Publicity Secretary
of the APC, Mr Chris Finebone, said the party at the state level was
not expecting Oshiomhole to reach out to it.
Finebone explained that the position of
the APC national chairman was not threatened and as such did not need to
begin to meet with any state chapter of the party.
“His (Oshiomhole) job is never
threatened at all. It is only those who lost out in the power tussle
that are trying to be heard,” he said.
Akeredolu, Ondo chair disagree
In Ondo State, it was reliably gathered
that the Chairman of the party, Mr Ade Adetimehin, and the state
governor, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu, were not on the same page on the issue
of the removal of the national chairman.
A source in the party said while
Akeredolu was in support of Oshiomhole’s removal, the state party
chairman was supporting the national chairman.
The source said, “The way things are
going on in Ondo APC, it seems the governor and the chairman do not
agree on the issue. The governor wants Oshiomhole out as the chairman
but Adetimehin opposes this.
“As I am talking to you today,
Adetimehin is confused on the matter because he doesn’t want to go
against the wish of the governor, who is the leader of the party in the
state, but he ( Adetimehin) couldn’t come out to give his support to
Oshiomhole. That is why we are neutral on the matter in Ondo State and
that is why the party is being silent on the issue.”
Attempts to get the APC state chairman did not succeed as he did not return calls to his mobile on Saturday.
We’re not happy with Oshiomhole –Imo
But the Imo State chapter of the party
said it remained aggrieved with the decisions Oshiomhole took during the
party’s protracted primaries in the state.
The state Publicity Secretary, Jones
Onwuasoanya, said the party’s constitution was very clear on how an
“errant officer” should be disciplined.
Onwuasoanya said, “The national chairman
has not reached out to us to save his job. Let me state it that it is
not within the purview of the state chapters of the party to decide the
fate of any errant national officer.
“But the truth is that we are not happy
with him on some of the steps he took regarding the outcome of the
primary elections in Imo state.”
In like manner, in Ogun State, the
crisis between the state chapter of the APC Oshiomhole had worsened
following the refusal of the chairman to grant the request of the state
governor, Ibikunle Amosun.
Niyi Odebode, Chukwudi Akasike, Femi Makinde, Ademola Babalola,Bola Bamigbola, Olaide Oyelude, Tunji Bosun, Armstrong Bakam, Abiodun Nejo, Peter Dada, and Chidiebube Okeoma
