Osagie Otabor, Benin
The All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, must resign, a faction of the party in Edo State said on Monday.
The faction loyal to Governor Godwin Obaseki asked Oshiomhole to honourably resign or remain suspended.
It said any action taken by Oshiomhole, including signing documents while on suspension, will be null and void.
The Edo APC denied issuing the party’s membership cards to Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu and his followers, following their defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Addressing a world press conference in Benin City, the factional APC chairman, Anselm Ojezua, traced the crisis to the primaries ahead of the last general elections.
Ojezua said Oshiomhole lacked the capacity, temperament and moral authorit to lead the APC.
He said: “In any case, having been suspended, he has lost the legitimacy to act in any capacity in the party.
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“We draw particular attention to Article 21 of the APC Constitution, which relates to the discipline of party members and the powers of respective organs of the party to take disciplinary actions against members.
“In the circumstances, any action taken in the capacity of National Chairman, including the documents he signs and meetings he presides over, may well be futile as his membership is already compromised.
“We are guided by the admonition of President Muhammadu Buhari, who has consistently maintained that we must live up to the tenets and provisions of the constitution of the APC.”
Ojezua said his faction can succeed in next year’s election without Oshiomhole.
“What Oshiomhole has with him is a third rate army. We are ready for the elections. Obaseki has done so much to justify the confidence the citizens reposed in him.
“It is the goodwill and prayers of the people. Obaseki has goodwill. He is putting in place what he promised. We will have success at the elections.
“We are establishing mobilisation committees to reach out to people of substance in other parties who wish join our party in the right and proper way,” he said.
Also yesterday, Governor Godwin Obaseki faulted Oshiomhole for saying he failed to learn how to win elections.
Obaseki said he won more votes for the APC than the party got under Oshiomhole.
The governor said he did not only win his unit and ward during the last general election, but polled more votes for President Buhari in 2019 elections than Oshiomhole when he was governor during the 2015 elections.
Speaking through his Special Adviser on Media and Communication Strategy, Mr. Crusoe Osagie, Obaseki listed instances where he alleged Oshiomhole twisted the truth.
He said: “In 2015, when Oshiomhole was governor, he polled 208,469 votes against Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) 286,869, with a 78,400 deficit. While in 2019, under Obaseki, the APC scored 267,842, while the PDP got 275,691, with a 7,849 marginal loss.
“In the House of Representatives, the state had four seats for the APC against five for the PDP in 2015, while in 2019, under Obaseki, the APC won five seats, against the PDP’s four.
“In the House of Assembly, the APC won the entire 24 seats, which never happened under Oshiomhole’s administration.
“It bears repeating that the governor won his unit and ward in the general election.”
Also, Obaseki said his administrations will not be distracted by forces whose intention is to slow down governance.
The governor spoke while briefing reporters on the outcome of the weekly State Executive Council meeting held at the Government House in Benin.
He said the council reviewed the recent political situation in the state and decided not to relent in delivering good governance to the people of Edo.
“Interestingly, at a time we are receiving all the awards, which are an acknowledgement of what we have achieved, there are forces from within who are fighting the progress we have made.
“It is quite ironic that the week we were receiving awards in the area of ICT and entrepreneurship, that same week, we were being invaded from outside by some strange elements.
“They intend to slow us down and distract us, but with God on our side and the people that are with us, they will not succeed,” he said.
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