News
Oshiomhole: ‘ God Will See Me Through, My Travails Not From Edo’
Published
5 years agoon
By
Editor
The National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, has blamed his recent travails on some chieftains of the party outside his state, saying “God will see me through, he knows my heart”
Oshiomhole spoke to State House Correspondents after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari Thursday evening at the Presidential Villa, just hours after a Federal High Court in Kano gave a restraining order in his favour.
He said despite efforts by those he dubbed as ‘blacklegs’, whom he accused of holding membership of other opposition parties, his leadership of the party would be determined by God.
According to Nation, The party Chairman lamented that those who have been working to undo him had committed themselves to the fight not because he had performed poorly but because he had refused to allow them to abuse their privileged places in the party.
READ ALSO: ‘Are You Looking At Me With Pity?’, Oshiomhole Asked Journalists
He also claimed that the ambition of some leading members of the party to contest the office of the President in 2023 had been a major motivation for many of the plots against him.
According to him, the court order, which called for his suspension was generated by the National Vice Chairman (Northwest), Comrade Mustapha Salihu and four others, adding that his lawyers had faulted the order gotten against him, saying it was issued by a court out of jurisdiction.
Speaking about those he alleged were behind the onslaught against him and their alleged motives, he said: “Those behind this plot, the hands you saw which includes as you saw yesterday, the Edo State governor and his people jubilating but that is the irony of life that you will help give birth to a child and the child look for cutlass to want to chop off your neck. It has happened in history, it has happened in this country so I won’t be only person.
“But there are other forces who see me for whatever reason as a threat to them. And those leading this anti-Oshiomhole campaign, some of them I emphasize, cannot even boast of a counselor in their state even as they lay claim to leadership position in our party.
READ ALSO:Oshiomhole’s Suspension: Ize-Iyamu Talks Tough, Says ‘We Will Resist Attempt To Rubbish Him’
“I am proud to say that I have done my best not only when I was a governor, I have done my best as chairman of this party.
” I have worked not only along members of the party and with support of the good people of Nigeria for the president to be re-elected, for us to have majority in the two chambers of the National Assembly.
“I also worked hard to deliver my unit, my ward, I worked hard to deliver my local government, I worked hard to deliver my federal constituency three of them in my senatorial zone, I also worked hard to deliver my senator.
“Those fighting me couldn’t deliver even a counselor of a local government in their unit.
“And they just feel that if they cannot give me orders then they must do everything to embarrass my person, but I believe that he who God stands with no man born of a woman can bring him down.”
READ ALSO: Just In: Court Sets Aside Ruling Suspending Oshiomhole As APC Chairman
He went on: “I can’t say more than that. Those who are parading themselves, holding meetings at night, my prayer to my God is that let them meet at night, what they do at night will be destroyed my light in the day time.
“I don’t go for night business I do day business. They know themselves, they know me and I know them.
“It is just unfortunate that if you have out of 100, 90 people are happy with you, will call and say well done, those 10 who are not are the ones that will call press conference to denounce you, they are the ones who will hold midnight meetings in a minister’s house to say how do we bring him down.
“They are the one who will plot how do we get rid of him because they want to be president in 2023 even when their hold on their state at the moment is doubtful If they were to go for referendum in terms of their approval rating.
“But God will see me through, He knows my heart, He knows my conscience and He knows the wishes of the overall majority of our members and to them I remain ever grateful”, he said.
On why they want him out, Oshiomhole explained: “You see there is an issue in this country. People want strong leadership, the averaged Nigerian want to have a strong leader for Nigeria, they want to have strong leaders in various institutions, they want institutions that are strong enough that cannot be controlled by individuals. That was why President Obama said, what Africa needs are strong institutions not strong persons.
“Unfortunately, very few section of our elites want to weaken institutions so that they can control and if you refuse to oblige them the misuse of your institution then they go for your jocular, that is the only thing. Otherwise I ask you, remember the confusion we had at the last NEC meeting?
“That meeting took place exactly a week or about 10 days after we had won Kogi election, Bayelsa election before the court took it and donated it to somebody else.
“Yet in the face of this victory, people said Oshiomhole must be removed, precisely because we won more seats.
“But you see whatever you do, those who want to fight you will fight you. But I know that my tenure will be defined my God not by man.
“And I worry more about what I will be remembered for when I was chairman rather than how long I was chairman.
“And I am convinced that I have done my very best, mistakes would have been made and I want to see the one person who will say he has never made mistakes.”
Speaking on the court order obtained against him, Oshiomhole said “just yesterday (Wednesday) morning suddenly I saw in the news that an FCT High Court has suspended me as national chairman.
“And that the person who went to court includes one of my vice chairmen, north East, one Mustapha (Mustapha Salihu APC National Vice Chairman Northeast) and four others. I was taken back because in the same suit they joined the APC, the police as the DSS.
“Our lawyers told me that in law that when you sue a federal agency, FCT High Court has no jurisdiction to entertain it. Number two, the purported suspension of my person by my ward, first I am going to give you a document to that effect so that you can form your opinion.
” Number three, I am not an officer of my ward, I am the national chairman of my party, elected at a national convention by over 7,000 delegates, so how could nine persons sit down somewhere and purport that they have removed a national chairman.
“And the court contrary to all logic, all judicial precedence find comfort in granting an interim interlocutory order to stop me from functioning pending when the matter is determine.
” In other words, he has given the order without the facts being laid before him and in the process adjourned the case to 7th of April.
“The calculations are clear that between now and April 7th, my opponent in the system would have had ample time to do all the mischievous plans they have in place to distabilise the APC.
“Because, some of them have membership of more than one political party. But happily this afternoon, a federal high court that I believe that has jurisdictions on federal issues because the DSS, the police are not state institutions but federal institutions, has given an appropriate order to restrain the so called suspension that was allegedly impose on me by my ward in Edo State.
“I thought that I had a duty to brief Mr. President as the overall leader of our party about this development. Incidentally, when I requested for the audience yesterday I wasn’t sure what has happened today will happen.
“But I had a duty to inform him about the court order. But happily before coming here, the order from a Federal High Court that has made nonsense of what the FCT court purported to have done has already settled the question.
“And I showed to the president the resolutions of my ward even though a ward executive does not have the powers to remove a national chairman, just to say that the document that we have says clearly that my ward passed vote of confidence on me.
“How the court can hold vote of confidence and twist it to mean vote of no confidence, only that judge can explain it to himself.
“But the good news is that this is not a final court nor is it the only court, incidentally it is just the court that didn’t have the jurisdiction even to listen to this matter.
“And our lawyers so pointed it out but the judge was determined to obliged those who want to distabilise the All Progressive Congress.”
(NATION)
PHOTO: File
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First female lawyer in the old Mid-West region, Grace Ogbemi, is dead.
She died in Lagos at the age of 89 just a week before her 90th birthday.
Before her death, she was a successful Itsekiri businessman and politician.
Born in Warri July 11, 1935 to Chief Reece Edukugho, Madam Grace Ogbemi was called to the English Bar in 1958, becoming the first female lawyer in the Mid-West Region, now Edo and Delta states.
READ ALSO: JUST IN: Olubadan, Oba Olakulehin, Is Dead
She was a partner in the law firm of Godfrey Amachree Ogbemi & Co.
She got married to Franklin Ogbemi, a Chartered Engineer.
She died on July 5, 2025.
News
Why We Refused To Vote, Opted For Football – Lagos Youths
Published
1 hour agoon
July 12, 2025By
Editor
While election officials and stakeholders made repeated calls for civic participation in the ongoing local government polls in Lagos, some young residents of Alausa, Ikeja, chose football over voting.
Between 9am and 2pm on Saturday, during the peak of the electioneering process, groups of youths were seen at three different spots in Alausa engrossed in football matches instead of heading to polling units.
When approached by our correspondent, many of them cited a lack of trust in the electoral outcome as the reason for staying away from the polls.
“You can’t force me to vote. I chose to play ball, and why will I vote?” said Ayomikun Ola, one of the youths.
READ ALSO: What May Change As Lagos Tenancy Bill Passes Second Reading
Another young man, Opeyemi Omoemi, was blunt in his response: “We all know that it’s the APC that wins all, as usual. So there is no need for me to disturb myself.”
Wasiu, also found on the field, said, “Bro, there is no need. I am satisfied with the football than the vote.”
Bayo, who joined the game, explained that he was underage. “I haven’t clocked 18, that’s why I didn’t vote. The best is to play football,” he said.
A young woman, Seriki Ganiyat, attending to customers at her shop nearby, said she could not afford to leave her business for the election.
READ ALSO: LASIEC Releases Validated Candidates’ List Gor Lagos LG Polls
“It’s not necessary. I have children to feed. Imagine if I had to leave my shop to go and vote. What for and what will my children eat this night?” she asked.
Their views reflect a broader pattern of low voter turnout and widespread apathy observed across many polling units.
At Polling Unit 003, Ward 7, only 61 out of 1,000 registered voters had voted as of 1:05pm.
READ ALSO: JUST IN: Vote Counting Begins In Yaba
Similarly, at PU 007 of the same ward, only 30 people had cast their ballots by 1pm., while PU 031 had recorded just four voters out of 29 by 1:12 p.m.
At PU 026, only one voter had shown up out of 21 registered. PU 027 recorded just five votes from 62 registered voters by 1:43pm.
In Ward F, PU 011, 45 voters turned up from a total of 908. PU 085 had no votes cast at all by 1:45pm, despite having four registered voters.
Ward C’s PU 004, with 913 registered voters, recorded just 30 ballots as of 1:47pm. At Ward F, PU 036, only 50 out of 986 had voted by 1:51pm.
(PUNCH)

Vote counting has officially commenced at Polling Unit 024 in Ward B, Makoko area of Yaba, Lagos, marking the winding down of the 2025 local government election across the state.
However, the conclusion of the poll has been overshadowed by a pervasive low voter turnout, raising questions about the exercise’s overall impact.
“The lack of voter enthusiasm could impact the credibility and inclusiveness of the exercise,” an election observer noted, reflecting a sentiment shared by many watching the democratic process unfold.
READ ALSO: Lagos Police Deploys 30,000 Officers For LG Polls
This concern comes as officials at Polling Unit 002, located in the same Ward B, continued to await the arrival of voters even as counting began elsewhere.
Despite a generally peaceful atmosphere reported across various polling units, voter turnout remained significantly low in many parts of Yaba.
At Ward F, 012, situated along Iwaya Road, voting was still ongoing as of press time, with officials describing the turnout as notably lower than anticipated.
READ ALSO: LASIEC Releases Validated Candidates’ List Gor Lagos LG Polls
Similar reports echoed from other sections of Iwaya, where Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission officials observed a sluggish pace of voting activity throughout the day.
In contrast, Ward G at St. Timothy College presented a more active scene, with multiple polling units—including 001, 002, 003, 004, and 005—conducting voting in an orderly manner.
This provided a glimpse of the organised process, even amidst the broader challenges of voter engagement.
Election observers, while commending the largely calm and disruption-free process, reiterated their concerns that the palpable lack of voter enthusiasm could indeed impact the credibility and inclusiveness of the local government elections.
LASIEC officials have continued their efforts to encourage eligible voters to come out and cast their ballots before the scheduled close of voting at 3pm.
(PUNCH)
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