Politics

APC Under You Conducted Nigeria’s Worst Primaries, Amosun Blasts Oshiomhole

Published

5 months ago

December 20, 2023

Editor

Former Governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, on Wednesday derided ex-National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Adams Oshiomhole who he claimed lied about the circumstances leading to his removal from office as the party chairman.

He said the party under Oshiomhole conducted one of the worst primaries in the history of Nigeria’s contemporary politics, hence his eventual removal from office.

While admonishing the erstwhile governor of Edo State to desist from denigrating former President Muhammadu Buhari to please the current administration of President Bola Tinubu, Amosun described him as the ‘biggest destructive threat’ to the existence of the APC during his tenure hence the need to remove him.

The former Ogun State governor made the statement in a press release issued to newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday.

His statement was a response to Oshiomhole’s claim that Buhari never intervened in the political crisis that led to his removal as the APC national chairman.

Oshiomhole spoke at the launch of a book “APC and Transition Politics” authored by and APC chieftain, Malam Salihu Lukman, in Abuja on Tuesday.

The senator representing Edo North accused Lukman as well as former Governor of Ekiti, Kayode Fayemi and his counterpart in Ogun as being the architects behind his controversial removal from office.

He lamented, “Lukman wrote several letters, dismissing my leadership without calling me. When you ride on the back of a tiger, there is only one destination. I wrote to the governors for a meeting. The governors said no, I should come to Imo House, not the APC office. He (pointing to Lukman) was there. He did not see anything wrong with that.

“It felt as though I was in a military barrack. But I told them none of you can lecture me about the power of a governor because I have been governor twice. Eight years uninterrupted. At a point, I told Fayemi, ‘You did a resit. You were elected and by the second term, you lost. That means you failed’. I did not do a resit, and you are lecturing me about power. I can mention some of them.

“The man in Ogun State (Amosun), he told me if not for the President, he would have left the party. Some of them told me ‘You are working for your paymaster in Lagos. Your paymaster in Bourdillon.”

Midway into his speech, Oshiomhole turned to warn the current National Chairman of the party, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje to be prepared if he doesn’t want the APC governors to pull the same political intrigue against his leadership.

“Mr Chairman, sir, if you have not faced it already, you will face it. The only difference is if the President decides to intervene and moderate. In my own case, we have a President who was not ready to intervene,” he said.

Reacting, Amosun said it was obvious Oshiomhole was merely trying to warm himself into the good book of Tinubu by dragging the name of Buhari into his drama.

This was even as he described the narrative of the Edo senator as a pack of falsehood peddled to amuse the Nigerian public in vain.

He said, “It is not in doubt that I have participated fully in the formation and sustenance of our party, the APC, and I can boldly say that the party under Adams Oshiomhole conducted one of the worst primaries in the history of Nigeria’s contemporary politics and ended up shopping for his own enemies, leading to his eventual removal as chairman of our party.

“Nigerians should not be in a hurry to forget the allegations that preceded the conduct of those primaries and his eventual invitation by the Department of State Service to clarify certain grave allegations.

“If he wanted to insult our leader, President Muhammadu Buhari, he could have come out boldly to do so. But his subtle attempt to pass snide remarks at him failed the simple test of loyalty because the former President also moved from his own party to merge with other like-minds to form the APC.

“Also, if he is seeking favour from the Presidency, why not come out and do so? But to tell barefaced lies that, ‘You are working for your paymaster in Lagos, paymaster in Bourdillon,’ is cheap but typical of an individual, who suddenly found himself where he never dreamt of, despite his obvious limitations – education and exposure. This is why I have consistently brushed aside and intentionally scoffed at his tongue-in-cheek apology, which he had extended to me several times. I am now convinced it was not genuine.”

Politics

Edo Guber: Ex-Speaker Rejoins APC With Over 2000 Followers

Published

11 hours ago

May 20, 2024

Editor

A Former Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Francis Okiye, rejoined the All Progressives Congress.

The former Speaker had resigned his membership of the People Democratic Party on May 10, assuring that he would announce his next political move in the coming days.

Speaking at a rally in Edo Central, he said that about 2500 people moved to APC in Esan West, Esan Central, Esan North East, Esan South East and Igueben.

He said, “About 2500 people from Labour, PDP joined the APC on Sunday. Prior to today (Sunday), we had met, discussed and asked Governor Godwin Obaseki led PDP government to address the issue of alienation, disillusionment and high handedness and despotic tendencies.

“Nothing has been done to address the issue, so we the “aborigine” PDP, have just given the Obaseki led PDP a red card.

When asked how his return to APC will help the party, he said, “My movement to APC will help the party and I will be simple with my analysis.

“In a democracy, votes matter. So my exit from PDP is a minus to the party whether anybody likes to interpret other wise. If they are Democrats, they will know that at least they have lost my vote not to talk of many others that moved with me to APC.

“With what happened today, they have lost a minimum of 500 votes and these 500 people also have people they can convince to work for APC.

“We will begin the house to house campaign soon and let people know why they must leave PDP and join in the APC. They musy vote a candidate that is humane and not business people who are in the state to make profit,” he added.

Politics

Atiku Hints On Supporting Obi For 2027 Presidential Race

Published

2 days ago

May 18, 2024

Editor

The 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, has said that if in 2027, the party decides that it is the South-East’s turn and selects Peter Obi as its candidate, he will readily offer his support.

“I have said repeatedly and I even said it before the 2023 general elections that if the PDP decides to zone the presidential ticket to the South or South-East specifically, I won’t contest it. As long as it’s the decision of the party, I will abide by it. But I contested the 2023 presidential ticket because it was thrown open to all members of the party.

“If the party decides that it’s the turn of the South-East and Peter Obi is chosen, I won’t hesitate to support him,” Atiku declared in a recent interview with BBC Hausa Service.

He added that a merger between the PDP and Labour Party is possible.

Atiku added that members of the party would decide his fate in the 2027 general elections.

The former Vice President mentioned that his recent meeting with Obi might indicate a possible alliance leading up to the 2027 general elections.

Responding to questions about the meeting with Obi, Atiku said, “It’s just a normal friendly meeting that we often have, particularly among us in the opposition parties. Such meetings are healthy for Nigeria’s democracy and in the country’s interest.”

On whether this will bring about a merger, he said, “Yes, it’s very much possible. We can merge to achieve a common goal. So, it’s possible, and nothing can stop it if we wish to achieve that.”

The former Vice President, who denied that the choice of presidential candidate might frustrate the merger discussion, said, “That’s not true. That challenge will not arise. I can tell you that the choice of who will fly the flag of the party won’t be an issue.”

On why he’s still in active politics, Atiku said, “Yes, we can’t keep quiet and watch things go wrong. People are suffering and we are committed to making Nigeria a better place.

“It means you are not tired of politics of Nigeria? Not at all. I am still in active politics in Nigeria, at least, as long as God permits.

“My age doesn’t stop the young ones from testing their fate. Everybody, irrespective of age, is allowed to aspire to be anybody in the society, politically or otherwise.”

Regarding his 2027 Presidential ambition, the former Vice President said “That would depend on the decision of my party. I can’t make any categorical statement on that. It’s the duty of the party to decide on the way to go in the next election.

“Until that time comes. Let’s just wait and see how it will turn out.

“It must not be interpreted like that. I must not be eyeing elections to have meetings with political friends and associates. Currently, we are practising democracy in this country which we fought for with our blood.”

Last week, Obi held a private meeting with Atiku and some other PDP leaders in Abuja.

Obi also met separately with former Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido and former Senate President Bukola Saraki, sparking speculation about a possible coalition for the 2027 general elections.

Obi was a PDP member until 2022, when he left to pursue his presidential ambitions with the Labour Party.

He finished third behind Atiku in the February 23 presidential election, which was won by Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress.

Atiku blamed Obi’s departure from the PDP for his loss to Tinubu.

Analysts argued that Atiku’s 6,984,520 votes combined with Obi’s 6,101,533 votes could have secured a win against Tinubu, who received 8,794,726 votes.

Monday’s meeting marked the first public interaction between Obi and Atiku since the election.

Social media and online platforms were flooded with viral photos of Obi’s meetings with the three PDP figures on Monday.

In 2019, Atiku and Obi ran together on the PDP ticket but were defeated by former President Muhammadu Buhari of the APC.

However, due to internal conflicts, Obi, who was Atiku’s running mate in 2019, left the PDP and ran as the Labour Party’s candidate in the 2023 presidential election.

Politics

JUST IN: Ex-PDP Deputy National Chair, Oyedokun Defects To APC

Published

4 days ago

May 16, 2024

Editor

A former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Shuaib Oyedokun, has resigned his membership of the party and announced defection to the All Progressives Congress.

Oyedokun, a notable personality within the political circle in Osun State and beyond, said he decided to dump the PDP after consultation with his loyalists.

He said he would be joining APC, where his experience, efforts, and leadership roles would be valued and appreciated.

His resignation letter addressed to the National Chairman of the PDP through the ward, local government and state chairmen of the party obtained late Thursday further read, “As a functional member and leader of PDP (Ward 13, Jagun/ Osi-Bale Ode, Odo-Otin South Local Government, Osun State,) whose high electoral productivity and value have been credibly and positively acknowledged in my ward, across the local council, state and country-wide for the enhancement of the fortune of the PDP, I have the honour (though with pain) in announcing the renunciation of my membership of the party on principle, having observed that the ideals of we, founding members, had been sorely contaminated.

“In taking this step which is not even without due consultation with my teaming loyalists in the PDP, I have consequently decided to shift my allegiance to the All Progressives Congress (APC) where I believe my experience, efforts and leadership roles would be valued and appreciated.”

Oyedokun’s defection to the APC is coming at the time the aspirant he supported during the 2022 Osun governorship primary of PDP, Mr Dotun Babayemi is also moving to the national ruling party.

Osun APC said on Wednesday that Babayemi and his supporters would be dumping PDP and joining the party at a rally scheduled to be held in Osogbo on Friday.
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