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Tag: Adams Oshiomhole

  • Ekiti: PDP, Fayose resort to panicking measure – Oshiomhole

    Accuse them of mopping up PVC from workers

    The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole on Friday accused the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State of resorting to panicky measures in their desperation to win next Saturday’s governorship election in the state.

    One of such panicky measures, according to Oshiomhole, is alleged intimidation of civil servants to surrender their permanent voters cards so that they will not be able to vote in the election.

    The workers are said to be angry with the state government for not paying their salaries for about six months and are threatening to show their displeasure with the governor during the election.

    Oshiomhole, addressing reporters at his maiden news briefing in Abuja said the governor has ordered civil servants, teachers and other categories of workers in the state to surrender their pvcs.

    Those who refused to comply were queried, he said.

    His words: “You must have read reports that, in clear violation of the electoral act, Governor Fayose has instructed the civil servants, principals of schools and headmasters to retrieve pvcs  from civil servants because he is afraid that the civil servants and the people of Ekiti State will not vote for him and in demonstration of that, they are helping to educate the people on why they should not vote for his candidate.

    “He has not paid salaries for one year in spite of the fact that the federal government gave him bail out which he chose to divert to other uses.

    “So, they are panicking and while we are encouraging people to collect PVC, he is retrieving PVC.

    Read Also: Oshiomhole, new Delta APC leadership and 2019

    “We heard that they have started issuing query to workers, including teachers for refusing to surrender their pvcs. I don’t think you need any other evidence that the governor is panicking and we can’t wait to have him swept away in a free and fair election on the basis of one man, one vote, one woman, one vote.”

    The APC chairman claimed that Fayose himself was “ rigged into office and this is no secret because the military officers involved has since confessed to the role they played as well as those involved in the dollars that were withdrawn from the NNPC. These are no secrets anymore.

    “I think that Fayose thinks that the very instrument he used to come to power will be used against him. This is a party of change and so, we are not about to copy the darkest side of the PDP.

    “If he is afraid of being rigged out, why is he collecting pvcs  from registered voters and giving query to people for refusing to surrender their pvcs?

    “Why is he harassing heads of institutions and directing lecturers to award 20 percent free marks for any student that voted for his candidate?”

    Oshiomole said Fayose appears to be “hunted by the ghost of the forces he used to capture power because he didn’t win the last election.

    He dismissed allegation by Governor Fayose that the federal government closed the Akure Airport to stop PDP leaders from attending Thursday’s rally of the party in Ado Ekiti.

    He said PDP governors and other leaders of the party freely landed and took off from the airport in their private jets on the day in question.

    “Fayose said people were not allowed to fly into Akure airport, but our people have been able to produce a tape of how PDP governors and non-governors littered the Akure airport with private jets.

    “He has gone ahead to say that INEC wants to rig him out. Every armed robber thinks that every other person is an armed robber. If there is any political party that is on record as having consistently colluded with INEC, it is the PDP. I am an apostle of one man, one vote.

    “I rely on my sole power of persuasion and mobilization and dismantled PDP machinery in Edo State within firing a bullet. We came from the background of people winning election without relying on federal instrument and so, don’t need any reinforcement to do what we know best.

    “We will ensure that the rules of the game are obeyed. We have no apology for the fact that this time, Fayose will run on its records and will not be able to use those instruments he used before.”

    “If that is what he called rigging, too bad. We have seen a consistent pattern by the PDP that when elections are approaching, they will be shouting rigging, rigging while they are perfecting the act of rigging themselves. What we have brought on board as the new NWC of the APC is how to monitor and ensure that the rigging machine of the PDP is completely dismantled.”

    On the call that a vote for Fayemi is a vote for herdsmen, he said “Fayemi was Governor in Ekiti State and there were herdsmen when he was governor and was able to bring leadership to bear and involved the stakeholders. The truth is that we all need each other.

    “So, when people resort to bring in those divisive messages, it tells you how bereft of ideas they are and with that coming from a Professor, then I said no wonder that most professors are not successful in politics.”

  • NULGE set to engage Oshiomhole on local government autonomy

    The National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) is set to engage the new National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole on the need for the party to support the drive by Organised Labour for local government autonomy.

    A committee on True Federalism set up by the APC had, in its report recommended the scrapping of local government as a tier of government, contrary to the demand of local government workers and civil society organizations across the country.

    But NULGE is banking on the Labour background of the new APC chairman to get the party to change its mind saying, Oshiomhole cannot afford to turn his back on Nigerian workers and their demand for an autonomy for the local government.

    Addressing a news conference in Abuja on Thursday, National President of the union, Comrade Ibrahim Khaleel said about 24 states of the federation are still yet to take a position on the local government autonomy bill that has been passed by the National Assembly.

    He reaffirmed that nine states of Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Cross River, Kwara, Niger, Ogun, Sokoto and Plateau have so far passed the local government autonomy bill out of the twelve states that have taken definite position on the local government autonomy, while three states of Edo, Imo and Taraba have rejected the bill.

    Khaleel commended the National Assembly for their post amendment interventions geared towards rallying state legislators to vote in favour of the bills on autonomy for State Houses of Assembly, State Judiciary and autonomy for the Local Government System in Nigeria.

    He said “We are indeed very glad that at this moment, the bills on State Legislative and Judiciary autonomy have been overwhelmingly given endorsement by State Houses of Assembly and expeditiously signed into law recently by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    “We consider this as victory particularly for our union since autonomy for the Legislature at the State level was one of the pillars of our struggle and agitation for the deepening of democratic ethos at both the State and Local Government levels of Government.

    “We therefore on behalf of all true democrats and progressives who had supported our struggle and campaigned with us throughout the country in the past and current dispensations.

    Read Also: APC crisis: Oshiomhole assures on justice, fairness

    “Not unmindful of the outstanding principle concern of our struggle in relation to the autonomy of the Local Government. which is due to the desperation of State Governors to manipulate and truncate the quest for autonomy, we wish to commend members and leadership of the State Houses of Assembly that had passed the bill granting local Government autonomy; an action which invariably sent State Governors into panic.

    He said they were not unmindful of the fact that APC Governors Forum had engaged in what he described as dubious political project under the guise of restructuring and made a recommendation based on a spurious broad national consultation that Local Governments should be removed from the constitution as a third tier of Government.

    He said further that with the recent signing into law the financial autonomy bill by President Buhari, which effectively puts an end to the hegemony of absolute control of state legislatures by State Governors, state lawmakers no longer need to fear or be intimidated in asserting the logic of the constitutional provision which empowers them to  check the excesses of Governors.

    He said “One of the most invasive acts and glaring abuse of power by the Governors since the current democratic dispensation is their commandeering of Local Government funds at the expense of the development that they were meant to provide at the grassroots.

    “Perhaps, the delay which the Governors orchestrated to truncate the autonomy of Local Governments, may after all be an act of divine providence for this golden opportunity in which the only politically rational and expedient action State Houses of Assembly can take is to give emphatic endorsement to the two Local Government autonomy bills.

    “Doing so, as it has always been, will not only free resources for broad rural development. it will be among the most patriotic and prudent acts of legislative oversight to entrench democratic values and unshackle our people; the true constituents of Nigeria; from exploitation and undue domination by the clique of state Governors.”

    Khaleel asked President Muhammadu Buhari to break his long silence on the vexed issue of Local Government autonomy and must rise above the perceived political capital in the governors and invest in the trust of the Nigerian majority.

    He said “beyond fulfilling his promise to restore sanity in the operations of Local Governments by State Governors, it is our belief in NULGE that Mr President should also use his administrative powers to appoint reputable auditors to carry out forensic auditing of State-Local Government joint accounts in at least the last ten years.

    “This is necessary since there is little or nothing on ground in the 774 Local Governments to show for the huge resources allocated to States

    over the years. To demonstrate our commitment to the quest for autonomy of Local Governments, NULGE is at the verge of opening another chapter in this struggle.

    “If indeed the representatives in of the people in a number of State Houses of Assembly are not inclined to do the will of their people as demonstrated by members of the National Assembly going beyond merely advocating but actually voting for Local Government autonomy; we will have no other option than to resolve to vigorously mandate all chapters of our Union to use passage of the autonomy bills as a barometer for election at all levels in the forthcoming general elections.

    “As we speak, our members in the 774 Local Governments across the nation are on standby waiting for instructions to engage with members of State Houses of Assembly from State constituencies and to mobilise against those standing against Local Government autonomy.”

  • APC determined to govern Nigeria differently – Oshiomhole

    The All Progressives Congress (APC), National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, says the party is determined to govern the country differently to change it for the better.
    He stated this when he led members of the National Working Committee (NWC) on a visit to the Senate APC caucus in Abuja on Wednesday.
    “We are determined as a party to eliminate corruption and other forms of abuse of office, to entrench and deepen democracy.
    “Above all, we are determined to work and strengthen the bond of unity across all the divides in Nigeria so that we can truly refer to our country as a united nation.
    “These are reflected in the manifesto our party,” Oshiomhole said.
    The national chairman said with the trust reposed on the party by Nigerians, they would service that trust and sustain it as 2019 approaches.
    He described the task ahead of the National Executive Council, (NEC) of the party as a huge responsibility which they would not take for granted.
    “I want to assure everyone that it is not unusual to have the sort of  issues we probably have in a couple of places.
    “I bring on board a determination working with you and together with you to address each of those problems with a view to finding sustainable solutions.”
    “We do not need rocket scientists to be able to build a united party. We need a complete commitment to justice, fairness and courage to stand by the truth.
    “Once we do that, I believe we will have sustainable solution,”he said.
    President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, while welcoming the NEC members, commended the national chairman for making the visit early enough.
    “This is a good omen that we are all pleased with. Your emphasis on finding solutions is commendable.
    “The essence of leadership is finding solutions, your attitude, your approach are very promising and advised them to work as a team,”Saraki said. (NAN)

  • APC crisis: Oshiomhole assures on justice, fairness

    National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, on Wednesday said that the adoption of the principles of justice and fairness will be the way forward to resolve the differences in the party.

    Oshiomhole also noted that apart from upholding the principles of fairness and justice, the party would courageously stand by the truth to overcome its problems.

    The APC chairman spoke at a meeting between the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) of the party and APC Senate caucus at the National Assembly.

    He said that the party leadership was not necessarily bothered about the size of the party but the quality and commitment of members to the unity of the party.

    He assured the senators that issues breeding crisis in the party would be addressed in a manner to ensure a win-win situation.

    The party chairman noted that the issues threatening peace and unity of the party varied from State to State and from constituency to constituency.

    He added that the party under his leadership would painstakingly take steps to address all complaints.

    Read Also: Oshiomhole inherited party in cold war – Sani

    Oshiomhole who also spoke on the move by some members to increase the size of the party noted that such ambition could spell doom for the party.

    He said: “I think we should stop celebrating our size. I am not fascinated when people say we are the largest party in Africa. This is because in economics, you could suffer from diseconomics of scale.

    “You can become too big as to become dysfunctional. In the modern world that is knowledge-driven, small can be beautiful.”

    For him, the most important issue for the party is to make it more democratic and strong.

    He said, “So, I want to speak to democratic party, cohesive party, united party, the most powerful party. And this will be measured not by ourselves but by the Nigerian people in terms of what we are doing, how we do it and the cohesiveness that they can see.

    “So, that is in our hands and it is those values I want us to celebrate in future. I do not have any illusion that these are things we can just pluck. They have to be result of conscious hard work to have a united house.

    “So, I ask you Mr. President of the Senate and distinguished senators to trust that working together along with our leaders who are not here, we are committed to finding solutions that everyone will be able to smile, remain in the house, work in the house.”

    Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki, who responded to Oshiomhole’s remarks, also harped on justice and fairness.

    Saraki noted that justice and fairness were the issues party members had clamored for even before the national convention.

    After the opening session of the meeting, the party members went into a closed door session.

  • Oshiomhole’s comment to unseat Okowa is ‘Empty Boast’ – PDP

    The Delta State PDP has described as “empty boast” comments credited to the APC national chair, Adams Oshiomhole of using Federal might to unseat Governor Ifeanyi Okowa in the forthcoming general elections.

    It will recalled that Oshiomhole in a statement  which read partly stated that, “One of my principal reasons for accepting  to run for the national chairman of our great party is because I want to pay back Gov. Okowa of Delta State in his own coins. Earlier in 2016 he used Delta State money to fight me in order to install his party in my State, in 2019, I will be fighting, and knocking and even biting him with federal government might to ensure that PDP dies a natural death in Delta State.”

    Read Also:Okowa denies backing Atiku’s Presidential ambition

    But in a press statement made available Monday to The Nation, the PDP publicity secretary, Ifeanyi Osuoza said the comments credited to the APC chair was “a sad reflection of the political immaturity and emptiness of the ruling APC that a major preoccupation of its chairman was deploying the nation’s money and might of the federal government to settle a score in a vendetta like manner that smacks of malice and dangerous intention.”

    The party stressed that with Oshiomhole’s “arrangee” emergence as new APC chair, it has become more confident of coasting home to victory in 2019.

    Part of the statement reads, “We will not only trounce him and his federal might convincingly in Delta State but also work assiduously with the rest of our party men and women to dethrone and retire their presidential candidate.”

    Continuing, “Nigerians are not fools and they will no longer be deceived .We are all living witnesses today to the reality that Nigeria is even worse off than it was in 2015”.

    “We are a country in mourning every day as the massive deaths of Nigerians continue on a daily basis with reckless impunity. APC has failed completely as a political party and has battered Nigerians in the most terrible and unforgivable way possible. Nigerians have never had it so bad and in the midst of all these untold hardship and unexpected suffering, we have all realized that we made a grave mistake in 2015”.

    The PDP urged Nigerians to disregard the open threat by new APC chair branding him as a “crude, unstable, pugnacious, distasteful, and abrasive”.

    It said the comment by Oshiomhole was “a futile attempt to engage Gov. Okowa in his belligerence and play his politics of rhetoric”.

  • APC pressure group urge Oshiomhole to wade into Delta crisis

    An APC pressure group, Progressive Minds in Delta State APC, on Wednesday urged the National Chairman of the Party, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole to wade into the crisis rocking the party in the State with a view to reconciling the warring factions.

    The group in a communique issued after its meeting, also congratulated Comrade Adams Oshiomole and other elected members of the National Working Committee, NWC on their election and thanked President Mohammadu Buhari for providing purposeful leadership for the party.

    In a jointly signed communique, its chair, Ovouke Oshasha expressed worry over the leadership tussle in Delta State APC, especially after the wards, Local Government and State congresses.

    It said in any human aggregate there were bound to be quarrels, but stressed the need for all leaders of the Party in the State to together and work for the growth of the APC in the State.

    Read Also: Why I want to govern Delta State, ex-Tinubu aide

    Part of the communique read: “We the Progressive Minds humbly appeal to the current national leadership of our great party, All Progressive Congress APC, to urgently resolve the present political crisis among our leaders in Delta State APC, because united we stand divided we fall.

    “We want you as our new national leader to use your good office to advice or warn media aides of our political leaders in Delta State to stop further negative publications.

    We need all the leaders in Delta State APC to grow the party and win the 2019 elections in Delta State.

    “Also, we appeal to our leaders to warn their followers against any action that may not be in the interest of our party generally and which may hinder the success of APC in Delta State”.

  • Oshiomhole takes over APC, says Party Supremacy will be paramount

    Wants Obasanjo to refund $16billion spent on power

    The new National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole on Tuesday assumed office at the APC national secretariat with a strong commitment to deepen the principles of internal democracy and party supremacy, saying all organs of the party must learn to respect decisions arrived at meetings of the various organs of the party which must be made functional.

    Oshiomhole took over the leadership of the party from the former Chairman, Chief John Odigie Oyegun at about 2.45 said even the President can be accused of anti-party activities if he deviate from implementing decision taken by the National Executive Committee which he is part of.

    Oshiomhole who spoke for almost 40 minutes also wonder why President Muhammadu Buhari has not demanded former President Olusegun Obasanjo to return the 16 billion dollars spent by his government on power which did not yield results.

    In apparent reaction to a letter said to have been written to the Independent National Electoral Commission by the Social Democratic Party accusing the APC of “stealing’s slogan”, Oshiomhole said the slogan of the party remain Change, adding that the party has not taken any decision to alter its slogan.

    He said: “When we talk about party supremacy, it can only be operational if there are organs of the party meeting to take decisions on variety of policies and when we take decisions like that, at the National Executive Council meeting and the President is seated, if the President act to violate such decision, he can be accused of anti-party because he is a party to the decision.

    “The same thing goes for the National Assembly. If we establish these basis for quality decisions, executive and legislative actions must coincide with the promise and the manifesto. Where they don’t, we will have the kind of situation where the chassis is going right and the engine is going left. We must bring that to an end by creating a platform.

    “We have come in to build on what we met and to reposition our party as we approach 2019.

    “We want to go beyond being Electoral platform to be a party that is guided by its constitution and manifesto and we will do everything possible to support both the federal executive and federal legislature to ensure that both executive and legislative actions are informed by our commitment as reflected in our manifesto on the basis of which we were elected.

    Read Also: Oshiomhole: Beyond the song and dance

    “We will create a situation where every year, we must have convention, not in the open like Eagle Square in centers we choose. The agenda will not be election, but to look at our manifesto and our performance and see the gap, if there is, between what we promised and what is happening and to explain that gap and get those elected to explain to us what they will do differently to avoid deficit between promise and reality.

    “I also believe that in a world that is ever changing, the manifesto you wrote in the morning might be obsolete in the evening. For example, we promised to fight Boko Haram and to the credit of Mr. President and the armed forces, the Boko Haram that forced us to postpone national election in 2015 has been decimated which is a huge project.

    “As that time, we never envisage the current magnitude of the herdsmen crisis even though they have always been there, maybe it has escalated. In terms of going forward, we must now review our security architecture to deal with new forms of criminality as they arise.

    “People will also agree that level of kidnapping was much higher in 2015, but it has substantially reduced. But as you deal with one issue, new issues emerge and so, because the environment is dynamic, policies reflected in our manifestos must be subjected to constant review and ensure that they meet changing reality.”

    While lamenting the polarization in the nation’s body polity at the moment, he said “Right now, one of the things that is faction-able in headlines is crime, new ethnic groups emerging and even those who have presided over Nigeria are returning to their places of birth to whip ethnic sentiment because their conscience tells them that they have committed a crime for which they can possibly be candidates for prison.

    “We must scrap our these ethnic champions and religious bigots by putting up for national discourse policy issues that has to do with the Nigerian policy, economy and society.

    “Let that be the basis for our agreement and disagreement and if there is going to be a fight within the rank of the APC, let the fight be that some people are raising issues about our educational policy and what we promised, our economic choices. The policies of the CBN as it affect investments and wealth creation rather than have ethnic nationalities conferences.

    “If we fix Nigeria, everybody can worship in full freedom without worshiping on an empty stomach. We must work together to understand that in the 21st century, we need brains to drive our programmes. We are celebrating quantity which is not right. We are the most populous and the most endowed nation.

    “I think the real challenge is that our party must work to move on to becoming the most skilled and united nation on the account of what we have achieved. What we should be celebrating is how democratic are we, how smart are we are how inclusive are we. How participatory are our processes for decision making.

    “I am not aware that any organ of the party, there was a decision to change the slogan of the party that we all agreed to and as far as I know, we have not changed it and so, our slogan remains Change. We must sustain the change and deepened the change.

    “When we do that and we are consistent, then progress will be the outcome because progress is the outcome of a sustained change. We have a duty to correct people on this one. We are proud of our slogan, we are committed to it.

    “Recently, I watched the President asked questions about power and he 16 billion dollars that was spent on it. Maybe the President need to now asked the follow up question that since we cannot find the power, then, you must return the money that you spent.

    “If he doesn’t do that, then the accusation of limited anti-corruption may begin to have come currency. So, to assist PDP to overcome their accusation, our President needs to do the needful. Courage should not fail him and he should recover the 16 billion dollars back into the treasury from the man who presided over the spending.”

    Turning to Chief Oyegun, Oshiomhole said “I want to thank you for your leadership of our party and for leading us to victory in the presidential election and winning more states than the number of states that came together to form the APC.

    “However hostile the historian may wish to be, there are facts that are stubborn. These are stubborn facts that are to your credit and I think that you have every right to enjoy the fact that you made records as chairman of our party.

    “People are too busy pursuing day to day survival that basic fact often escape. We have the PDP as the first governing party in Nigeria and in their 17 years of existence as a political party, they had 14 National Chairmen.

    “So, when they are going to write the history of internal democracy, stability of leadership and adherence to constitution as to when people leave office and how the6 leave, you will be the only in our history so far since 1999 who was elected, run the party on its rules and exited in glory on the basis of those procedures provided for in our constitution.

    “It is to your credit that you didn’t have to be chased out of office for refusing to resign. There are so many things you have accomplished. So, when we talk about democracy, stability, due process and internal democracy, you led us to internalize these values.

    “Our President also demonstrated that we can, when convenient speak to party supremacy and the next minute, the executive is treating party executives as if they his appointees. Between you and President Buhari, you have kId the foundation which I hope others will be able to copy.

    “I wish that now that you are going to be less busy, I am going to be disturbing you about advise, about things I see and how you think we can deal with them. You can be elected to a position, but age is not by election and there is wisdom associated with aging.

    “What you have going for you is not just age, but experience in various facet of life. This is not the first time I will be subjecting you to such unremunerated service. As governor, you freely offered advise sometimes and they were helpful and I will continue in that direction. I want to assure you that we will work hard as best as we can to improve the record that you have already set.”

    On the elections in Ekiti, he said “I am also clear that we are assuming office on the eve of an election in Ekiti State. I am confident that all that we need to do is to make sure that the instrument that was ruthlessly deployed be then ruling party to rig us our is dismantled.

    “They must now go through the rigour that we have a,ways gone through to persuade people why we are better. We won’t resort to using their own tactics because we promised to be different and we will be different. But I know that old gangs can’t change their habit and cannot learn what they have never known, which is how to win votes.

    “They perfected how to write results which is no longer in vogue. I am very confident that Ekiti state will be won the basis of our record in comparison to their own records and ensuring that there is free and fair election. As you know, we launched one man, one vote.”

    Handing over the reign of office to Oshiomhole, former Chairman, Chief John Odigie Oyegun apologized for delaying the handover, saying he needed time t9 rest after spending two days at the Eagle Square for the convention.

    Oyegun said “I pay my due respect. I congratulate you for your signal victory and also all members of your team for their victory. It is my hope, expectations and prayers that yours will be a most distinguished and successful four years.

    “My duty today is brief and short and that is to introduce you to what is now your property, your headquarters, your building and your office and to go through the formality of a handover.

    “I have put my thoughts on paper and I thank God that you have some of the best brains that has survive the electoral process and will be working with you.

    “So, I have put everything I thought is important on paper, with a lot of attachment which include an inventory of everything in this building and the papers for the purchase of this building and all the minutes of the National Working Committee, the caucus and the NEC. They will serve as a bank of knowledge.

    “All that is left is to pray that during your period being signal successes to the party, that your period will make the party grow to greater height and your period will finally establish what we stand for, the smartest party in Nigeria and Africa.

    “I have no doubt that it will become a reality that this party is the smartest party in the whole of Africa. May God grant you success in the elections that are coming, beginning with Ekiti and then Osun”.

  • Oyegun formally quits as APC Chairman

    …Hands over to Oshiomole

     

    The new national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has officially taken over from the former chairman, Chief John Odigie Oyegun with a promise to institutionalise internal democracy with the party, assuring the staff of an improved welfare package.

    Oshiomhole arrived the party national Secretariat at about 1.15pm dressed in his traditional brown safari suit to the waiting arms of party supporters and staff.

    Oshiomhole was initially expected to assume his new position on Monday after being sworn in on Sunday evening, but the decision was differed to Tuesday to enable the former Chairman, Chief John Odigie Oyegun to tidy up his hand over notes.

    Read Also: Challenges before Oshiomhole as APC chairman

    The leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress, (NLC) led by its President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba and a deputy President of Congress, Comrade Najeem Yasin were at the Secretariat to show solidarity with Oshiomhole who is also a former President of the Congress.

    The official hand over ceremony began atbabout 1.52pm with the national anthem and an opening prayer by Senator Oloronibe Mamora following the arrival of the former National Chairman, Chief John Odigie Oyegun.

     

    Details later…

  • APC National Convention: Oshiomhole, delegates arrive Eagle square

    Former Edo state governor and chairmanship candidate of the All progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole has arrived Eagles square  in Abuja, venue of the party’s national convention.

    Before his arrival, some delegates and key party officials arrived the venue of the convention.

    Read also:APC convention: NSCDC, VIO deploy 2,400 personnel

    Amongst those that arrived early was Senator Ovie Omo-Agege. The minister of Transport Rotimi Amaechi arrived the venue at about 11:40 am.

    There is heavy security presence in and around the venue.

     

  • APC Convention: Nwosu urges S/East delegates to vote Oshiomhole

    …says he will steer party out of crisis

     

    Ahead of the Saturday National Convention of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the Chief of Staff to the Imo State governor and frontline governorship aspirant under the party, Chief Uche Nwosu, has enjoined APC delegates from the Southeast to support former Edo State governor, Adams Oshiomhole for the National Chairman.

    Nwosu who briefed journalists in Owerri, the Imo State capital, noted that Oshiomhole’s emergence as the National Chairman of the party will usher in a strong, focused and transparent leadership that will steer the party out of imminent crisis.

    The Chief of Staff also advised Southeast APC stakeholders to avoid politics of bitterness and acrimony and file behind the Imo governor, Rochas Okorocha as the leader of the party in the zone so as to forge a common front and speak with one voice in the convention.

    He said, “It is very obvious that our party is grappling with internal crisis and what we need now is a strong leadership that can resolve all issues in the interest of the party. It is also very obvious that some of the members of the outgoing National Working Committee had put selfish interests above the party interest. That is why we should all rally round Oshiomhole who has the experience and strength of character to return the party to the people”.

    Read Also:Tight security as APC holds rally in Ekiti

    Nwosu continued that, “I am convinced that his emergence will also best prepare the party for the 2019 election, which is just a couple of months away. We are aware that opposition parties are waiting to see the outcome of the Convention and if we fail to get it right, we may be giving them the chance they have been waiting for”.

    According to him, “some self-styled politicians are working to undermine the leadership and position of the party in the zone for selfish reasons, noting that most of them are actually working against the best interest of the party. So it is imperative that we identify our genuine leaders and obey their directive to save our party because the so called leaders are waiting for the party to fail in the zone so that they will return to the parties they defected from”.

    Nwosu who passed a Vote of Confidence on governor Okorocha and former Senate President, Ken Nnamani, assured that despite the current challenges in the party in the zone, the party will ensure landslide victory for President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019.

    He said, “Let me state with all confidence that President Buhari will win with a wide margin in the Southeast in 2019, this is because our people have seen tangible achievements recorded by his administration in the zone in the last three years.

    Some of these landmark projects include the second Niger Bridge, which has been an object for politics for many decades, the Onitsha/Enugu road, Enugu Port Harcourt road and the International Cargo Airport in Owerri, among others, were executed in the Southeast by the Buhari’s administration in just three years, while the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has nothing to point at in the zone for 16 years it was in power”.