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Tag: Amosun

  • Amosun mounts last minute pressure on Buhari

    Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun yesterday made a last-minute shuttle to the Presidential Villa in his battle to get the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship ticket for his preferred candidate.

    He was received by President Muhammadu Buhari. Governors Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo) and Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti) were with Amosun.

    It was learnt that the President made no firm commitment as Amosun, who holds a Senatorial ticket for Ogun Central, is weighing his options.

    Amosun’s  next moves remained unclear last night.

    The meeting was held at the President’s official residence in the Presidential Villa.

    The governors told the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) that they were at the Villa to assure Buhari of their continued support ahead of the 2019 presidential election.

    Akeredolu said apart from assuring the President of their support, they also seized the opportunity of the meeting to “talk on some issues and put our feet on ground on the issues”.

    Amosun and Fayemi also expressed confidence that Buhari would win the 2019 elections.

    According to a source in the Presidency, the session was held not only because of Amosun but to “consider the larger picture of a likely loss of  Ogun State to another party in 2019.”

    The source said: “The session was used to review all the circumstances surrounding the primaries in Ogun State and the face-off between the APC leadership and the governor.

    “It was a follow-up meeting to separate intervention meetings the governor has had with the key strategists of the President and some members of the presidential kitchen cabinet.

    “Amosun actually sought a decisive intervention of the President to iron out all issues and mutual reconciliation.

    “The implications of backlash of the crisis in Ogun on the APC’s chances at the presidential and governorship polls in 2019 were also frankly highlighted at the session as the state ranks higher with Lagos and Oyo as those with huge votes.

    “The atmosphere was cordial and the President listened with rapt attention.”

    Asked of the outcome of the meeting, the Presidency source added: “There was no firm commitment from the President to Amosun. He only noted all arguments for and against Amosun and the stalemate in Ogun State.

    “I think the governors were not really there to back Amosun but to look at the larger picture of the political and voting situation in the South- West and the need to reconcile or re-unite APC leaders in the zone.”

    It could not be immediately ascertained if the President will accede to the governors’ request.

    “No one can say what will be the mindset of the President, “the source added.

    “ It is either Amosun accepts the verdict of the party or go all out to ruin the chances of APC in Ogun State to prove a point that he is a force to reckon with politically.

    “If Amosun plays a spoiler’s game, the APC may lose but he might be the greatest loser because he can sink into political oblivion.”

  • Oshiomhole, Amosun, Okorocha war of words escalates

    • Okorocha offered me $2m bribe, says Gulak
    • Okorocha: He has no character
    • ‘Lies will fail APC in Ogun’, says Amosun

    The Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primaries election committe in Imo State, Ahmed Gulak, alleged yesterday that Governor Rochas Okorocha offered him a $2million bribe for the purpose of returning Uche Nwosu, son in law to the governor, as winner of the primaries.

    Gulak, a former political adviser to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, said in Abuja that he turned down the offer.

    The party has since forwarded the name of Senator Hope Uzodinma as its governorship candidate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC),leaving Nwosu fuming with anger yesterday.

    Nwosu wondered why APC national chair, Adams Oshiomhole, frustrated his governorship ambition after making his own son a member of the Edo State House of Assembly.

    Okorocha, meanwhile, fired back at Gulak yesterday on the bribe allegation, dismissing it as an afterthought, while Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State, whom Oshiomhole accused of running the APC in his state as an emperor, said yesterday that the APC chair “lacks respect for truth and decency.”

    Gulak who had alleged that he was kidnapped on his arrival for the primary in Imo State also claimed that officials of the state government offered to convey him and his team to Owerri from Abuja in  a private jet, an offer he claimed to have rejected because he did not want to be compromised.

    He told reporters in Abuja that Okorocha’s plan was to turn the state into a family estate with his son in law as governor, his (Okorocha’s) son as deputy governor, his wife as a member of the House of Representatives and himself as a senator without considering the fact that it is the people of the state that will be the ultimate decider.

    According to him, “The NWC approved our appointment, myself as the chairman and returning officer and six other members including the secretary making us seven as enshrined in the guideline. We went to Imo against all odds. We stood our ground, elections held, results collated and the winner announced.

    “After the collation, I and few others escaped because the governor himself came to arrest everybody in the hotel. But before he arrived, about four of us escaped and he arrested other members including the secretary.

    “He took them to Government House and they read a prepared speech declaring his son in-law the winner of that exercise. But I had already left Owerri for Abuja where I submitted my result.

    “As I speak today, there is no single petition against our report and against the result.

    “Let us not forget that Rochas’ in-law was not the only aspirant. Hope Uzodinma was not the only aspirant.

    “There were other seven aspirants including the Deputy Governor. From the nine of them, there is no single petition against the conduct of the election.

    “If there were grievances against the conduct of that election, the party has an appeal panel where petitions ought to have been lodged. The Appeal Panel will then recommend whether or not a fresh primary will be conducted. That did not happen.

    “As we speak, in accordance with the constitution and the guidelines, the result submitted by my committee, signed by me, is the authentic unchallenged report and the NWC had no option but to uphold that report.

    “I feel vindicated, the members of my committee feel vindicated.

    “The issue of Governor Rochas going round blackmailing the party, threatening the party, is not the best for a governor.

    “He is supposed to be a statesman. This is his party.

    “I understand very well that he is the senatorial candidate of his party in Orlu, so he should not weaken the party from within. He should call everybody; all hands must be on the deck to ensure that the party retains the state.”

    Gulak said that although there is nothing wrong in the governor wanting his son in-law to be governor, his lack of consultation with critical stakeholders in the state and his attempt to transform the state into a family dynasty, is an insult on the people.

    He said: “I know that whoever Governor Rochas wants to push forward, decency demands that he should do so in consultation with the stakeholders of that state. Even if he wants to put his son in-law, his daughter or his wife, he ought to have consulted the stakeholders.

    “No one man can do this game of politics. Everybody must be carried along. But I feel he did not consult the stakeholders before pushing his son in-law as the person to succeed him.

    “Naturally, people will revolt and if he had his way and imposed his son in-law on the party, what of the general election, can he impose him?

    “At the end of the day, the people of Imo State will decide who they will vote as governor and don’t forget it is not a one party system. I know that if you impose your son in-law as successor don’t forget that it is the Imo people who will decide who the governor will be.

    “I have it on good authority that immediately they learnt that the NWC had upheld the result of the Imo primaries, the other candidates subsumed their ambition in the interest of Imo state to support Hope Uzodinma.

    “As party men, we should all be happy about that too. That is politics without selfishness.

    “Rochas has spent eight years as governor of Imo state, and you want your son in-law to succeed you, you want to come to the senate as a senator, you want your wife to be a House of Reps member, you want your younger brother to be running mate, you want your son in-law to be governor.

    “That in itself is indecent, it is immoral and the people of Imo state may not take it likely.

    “They are not slaves; you cannot enslave them by making it a personal family dynasty. This is a well-educated state, well enlightened state where we have professors in almost every family.

    “We have businessmen, industrialists. These people have a stake in Imo state. So I know they will not lie low when Rochas begin to enslave them.

    “He has gone on air every day to abuse and malign me and I have decided to keep calm because it is an internal family matter. Abusing me every day on television and in newspapers will not help him. He should go and work for the victory of his party and leave me alone.”

    Speaking in his experience in Imo, he said “even before I went to Imo State, I was offered a private jet to take me there by the Government House and their proxies, but I refused because I didn’t want to be compromised.

    “I refused the private jet and even the tempting offer made to me, very tempting. We are talking about two million dollars here, which I refused and tried to persuade them that I was going to do what was needful: free and fair primaries and that every stakeholder must be involved.

    “Immediately we landed at the airport; that was where the problem started. They wanted to kidnap every member and only God knows where they wanted to take us to.

    “I pity the Imo people, but they have to take their destiny in their own hands and elect who they feel will represent them better. I am not from Imo State, but I am a Nigerian. There is equality and there is equity. Some of our governors take state resources as their personal resources and we know that power is transient; after four or eight years. I am happy that the party has vindicated me and I know it is the best decision for the people of Imo State.”

     

    Gulak has no character, says Okorocha

    Contacted for reaction to the Gulak allegations, Okorocha speaking through his Chief Press Secretary Sam Onwuemedo, said it was all an afterthought.

    He branded Gulak a man without character, saying the same man had earlier claimed he absconded   from Imo State for fear of being kidnapped.

    He said: “Gulak is a corrupt politician who does not have character. At first his claim was that he ran away to escape being kidnapped and it took him more than four weeks to remember that the governor gave him prepared result sheets to sign and $2million bribe. It is simply laughable”.

     

    Nwosu: Oshiomhole frustrating my ambition yet he made son lawmaker in Edo

    Okorocha’s son in law, Uche Nwosu, was also angry with Oshiomhole, saying the APC chair was frustrating his governorship aspiration yet he made his own son a member of the Edo State House of Assembly.

    Nwosu alleged that Oshiomhole was opposed to his governorship bid because his father-in-law picked the senatorial ticket of Imo west.

    He said: “We are disappointed over Oshiomhole’s action. His statements and antics did not give hope to young people who hitherto had always looked up to him.

    “He is saying that Okorocha’s senatorial ambition scuttled my governorship bid. After all Oshiomhole’s son is a member of the Edo State House of Assembly, who he nominated and he is the chairman of the party.

    “He is a man that is supposed to speak rightly and not deceive the people on air. I saw him on television when he was talking from both sides of his mouth. It is a pity that APC could have such a man as its national chairman.”

    Nwosu insisted that he remains the authentic candidate of the party, saying his candidacy cannot be truncated by the national chairman or any other person.

    “My mandate is still intact, I still remain the candidate of the APC, I am very much shocked with the national chairman who is speaking from the both sides of his mouth as a man of that age I thought he would have been upright,” he said.

    “I am shocked that a man who has attained that age and who we should look up to as our role model has become somebody who many of us can no longer see as a role model again. I am shocked at the attitude of the national chairman which does not give hope to young people that mostly look up to him for years.

    “I will not leave APC; I still remain the authentic candidate of that party. I still have a valid court order restraining the party from submitting any other name and also restraining INEC from accepting any other name other than my name and the matter is in court.

    “So if they go anywhere and get another court order without knowing that there is a subsisting court order, then that must have been done in error.

    “So the fact remains that I am the candidate of APC, it is just for a while and I will take up my mandate, I don’t have in mind to leave the mandate I already have for another party. My candidacy is secured and cannot be truncated by the national chairman or any other person.”

     

    Oshiomhole and his collaborators will fail in Ogun, Amosun charges back

    Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State also reacted angrily  yesterday  to the Friday comments by  Oshiomhole in which he said the governor was running the affairs of APC in his state as an emperor.

    Amosun, in a statement by Information Commissioner Adedayo  Adeneye, said  Oshiomhole  “lacks respect for truth and decency.”

    The governor alleged plot to hand the state over to what he called a gang of rapacious expansionists in the Southwest.

    He said the plot would fail.

    Adeneye, in the statement, restated “the contention of the APC leadership in Ogun State that the only gubernatorial primary held in the State was that of October 02, 2018 which produced Adekunle Akinlade as winner.”

    He added: “the emergence of Akinlade was initially through a consensus arrangement as allowed by the party constitution but was nevertheless subjected to a primary election when some gubernatorial aspirants disagreed with the outcome of the consensus arrangement.

    “This is, however, without prejudice to the sanctity of the consensus arrangement which Adams Oshiomhole hypocritically tries to demonise.

    “Nigerians will recall that Oshiomhole himself was elected National Chairman of the APC by consensus arrangement which witnessed all other contestants to the office being prevailed upon to step down for him (Oshiomhole).

    “The ground on which Oshiomhole disputes the gubernatorial primary in Ogun State is that the result was not announced by the State Electoral Committee from Abuja, therefore the governor resorted to self-help.

    “We wonder why Oshiomhole accepted the result of the primary election in Lagos State whose result was also not announced by the State Electoral Panel. Why will the same scenario be acceptable in Lagos State but regarded as self-help in Ogun State?

    “We wish to call the attention of Nigerians to another evil being perpetrated by Oshiomhole in Ogun State.

    “As at today November 3, which is 24 hours after the deadline for submission of names of candidates for the House of Assembly, Oshiomhole has not given INEC Party Candidate Form (CF001) to any of the 26 candidates who won the primaries for the ticket to contest for the Ogun State House of Assembly.

    “The primary was conducted on October 7 by the State Electoral Committee headed by Col. Ali Ciroma. This is despite the fact that the State Chairman of the party had kept vigil at the national secretariat of the APC in the last two weeks to collect the forms.

    “If Oshiomhole is denying the outcome of the gubernatorial primaries because the State Electoral Committee shied away from announcing the result, what is the reason for denying all the 26 candidates for the House of Assembly freely elected by members of the APC in Ogun State?

    “We want Nigerians to note the duplicity and meddlesomeness of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and his gang in the affairs of the APC in Ogun State.

    “It is also important to note that Oshiomhole unilaterally replaced four of the nine winners of the primary election into the House of Representatives.

    “This includes Mikhail Kazzim, a serving member of the House who won the primaries by defeating Olumide, the son of Chief Olusegun Osoba, with 28,802 votes to Osoba’s 4,209. Oshiomhole removed Kazzim who won the primaries and replaced him with the man he had serially defeated, not only in the last primary election but also in the general election of 2015.

    “In yet another instance in Ado Odo – Ota Federal Constituency, Oshiomhole substituted the winner of the primary for the House of Representatives, Rotimi Rahmon with the name of Jimoh Ojugbele, who did not even contest to go back to the House of Representatives but contested the primary for the Senate and was defeated.

    “In his conduct, Oshiomhole is opening a new chapter in the history of elections in Nigeria- a situation where a gang of desperate politicians will sit somewhere in another state and write the result of an election that never took place; what our people creatively refer to as “Offshore Rigging”!.

    “This is what Oshiomhole and his gang are trying to foist on Ogun State. Lawyers say “you cannot build something on nothing”. Oshiomhole and his gang are trying to build a storey building of fraud on nothing.”

    The governor also dismissed the claims of Oshiomhole that he withdrew the security of the State Electoral Committee, saying Indabawa, Chairman of the panel and a retired Commissioner of Police came into Ogun State with a full complement of police team which he claimed was provided for him by a Deputy Inspector General of Police.

    He added: “How could Amosun have withdrawn policemen he did not assign or over whom he had no control?

    “All of these have clearly shown that the motive of Oshiomhole is not the rule of law which he proclaims on the roof top. It is rather, an evil plan with some collaborators, desperate to hijack the government of Ogun State and add it to the harem of states under their rapacious gang of exploiters.

    “As we have stated before, this evil design will not succeed in Ogun State. Our people are too educated, exposed and sophisticated to come under such odious arrangement. On a general note, Oshiomhole, who became the APC Chairman barely three months ago, is already threatening to write the epitaph of the party in his 100 days of ignominy.

    Governor Amosun concludes the statement with an advice for Oshiomhole: “To Oshiomhole and his motley crew of co-travellers in ignominy, be assured that the music has just begun and we hope that you will enjoy the macabre dance to the music of justice.”

    “By the Grace of God and the support of the good people of Ogun State, Adekunle Abdulkadir Akinlade will be sworn in as the new governor of Ogun State on May 29, 2019.”

                  

     

     

  • Oshiomhole lacks respect for truth, decency- Amosun

    Governor Ibikunle Amosun has declared that the alleged plot by the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, to cede Ogun State and the government to a ” gang of rapacious expansionists” in 2019 would fail.

    Amosun said Oshiomhole also lacks respect for truth and decency, accusing the former Edo State governor of using “unsavoury language” against him.

    The Governor who made this known on Saturday night in a statement by Adedayo Adeneye, the Ogun State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, was reacting to comments by Oshiomole on the controversy trailing the primaries of the party in Ogun State.

    Describing Oshiomhole as a “garrulous party chairman,” Amosun noted that he would not descend to the gutter to exchange words with him because he(Amosun)comes from a culture where acceptable standards of conduct are expected of people holding certain offices.

    He maintained that the only governorship primary that took place in Ogun State was the one that threw up his anointed man, Abdulkabir Adekunle Akinlade.

    Amosun said: “The only gubernatorial primary held in the State was that of October 02, 2018 which produced Hon. Adekunle Akinlade as winner.The emergence of Akinlade was initially through a consensus arrangement as allowed by the party constitution but was nevertheless subjected to a primary election when some gubernatorial aspirants disagreed with the outcome of the consensus arrangement.

     “This is however, without prejudice to the sanctity of the consensus arrangement which Adams Oshiomhole hypocritically tries to demonise.

    “Nigerians will recall that Oshiomhole himself was elected National Chairman of the APC by consensus arrangement which witnessed all other contestants to the office being prevailed upon to step down for him (Oshiomhole).

    “The ground on which Oshiomhole disputes the gubernatorial primary in Ogun State is that the result was not announced by the State Electoral Committee from Abuja, therefore the governor resorted to self-help.

    ” We wonder why Oshiomhole accepted the result of the primary election in Lagos State whose result was also not announced by the State Electoral Panel. Why will the same scenario be acceptable in Lagos State but regarded as self-help in Ogun State? Is it because it was executed by the Capo Di Tutti in Lagos State?

    “We wish to call the attention of Nigerians to another evil being perpetrated by Oshiomhole in Ogun State. As at today November 03, which is 24 hours after the deadline for submission of names of candidates for the House of Assembly, Oshiomhole has not given INEC Party Candidate Form (CF001) to any of the 26 candidates who won the primaries for the ticket to contest for the Ogun State House of Assembly.

    The primary was conducted on October 07 by the State Electoral Committee headed by Col. Ali Ciroma. This is despite the fact that the State Chairman of the party had kept vigil at the national secretariat of the APC in the last two weeks to collect the forms.

    ” If Oshiomhole is denying the outcome of the gubernatorial primaries because the State Electoral Committee shied away from announcing the result, what is the reason for denying all the 26 candidates for the House of Assembly freely elected by members of the APC in Ogun State?

    “We want Nigerians to note the duplicity and meddlesomeness of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and his gang in the affairs of the APC in Ogun State.

    “It is also important to note that Oshiomhole unilaterally replaced four of the nine winners of the primary election into the House of Representatives. This includes Hon. Mikhail Kazzim, a serving member of the House who won the primaries by defeating Olumide, the son of Chief Olusegun Osoba, with 28,802 votes to Osoba’s 4,209.

    “Oshiomhole removed Hon. Kazzim who won the primaries and replaced him with the man he had serially defeated, not only in the last primary election but also in the general election of 2015. In yet another instance in Ado Odo – Ota Federal Constituency, Oshiomhole substituted the winner of the primary for the House of Representatives, Hon. Rotimi Rahmon with the name of Hon. Jimoh Ojugbele, who did not even contest to go back to the House of Representatives but contested the primary for the Senate and was defeated.

    “In his conduct, Oshiomhole is opening a new chapter in the history of elections in Nigeria- a situation where a gang of desperate politicians will sit somewhere in another state and write the result of an election that never took place; what our people creatively refer to as “Offshore Rigging!.

    “This is what Oshiomhole and his gang are trying to foist on Ogun State. Lawyers say “you cannot build something on nothing”. Oshiomhole and his gang are trying to build a storey building of fraud on nothing.

     “As regards the claim of Oshiomhole that Sen. Amosun withdrew the security of the panel, Indabawa, Chairman of the panel, is a retired Commissioner of Police.

    “He came into Ogun State with a full complement of police team which he claimed was provided for him by a Deputy Inspector General of Police. How could Amosun have withdrawn policemen he did not assign or over whom he had no control?

    “All of these have clearly shown that the motive of Oshiomhole is not the rule of law which he proclaims on the roof top. It is rather, an evil plan with some collaborators, desperate to hijack the government of Ogun State and add it to the harem of states under their rapacious gang of exploiters.

    “As we have stated before, this evil design will not succeed in Ogun State. Our people are too educated, exposed and sophisticated to come under such odious arrangement. On a general note, Oshiomhole, who became the APC Chairman barely three months ago, is already threatening to write the epitaph of the party in his 100 days of

    ”To Oshiomhole and his motley crew of co-travellers in ignominy, be assured that the music has just begun and we hope that you will enjoy the macabre dance to the music of justice.

    “By the Grace of God and the support of the good people of Ogun State, Hon. Adekunle Abdulkadir Akinlade will be sworn in as the new governor of Ogun State on May 29, 2019.”

  • 2019 governorship: Amosun, Okorocha lose out as APC insists on Dapo Abiodun, Uzodinma

    NATIONAL Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, declared yesterday that Senator Hope Uzodinma and Prince Dapo Abiodun remain the party’s governorship candidates for Imo and Ogun States respectively, despite protestations from the governors of the two states. Oshiomhole said he would not be a party to alleged effort by Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State to create a political dynasty in the state. He said Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State would also not be allowed to keep running the affairs of the party in his state like an emperor. The party chair spoke to reporters in Abuja ahead of last night’s deadline for the parties to submit the names of their governorship and state assembly candidates for next year’s elections.

    Oshiomhole said the party was in the process of conducting fresh primaries in Rivers State after the Supreme Court invalidated the last congresses in the state that produced candidates for the elections. Taking the states one after the other, he said while the party’s constitution allows only the National Working Committee to conduct primaries, Amosun resorted to selfhelp by organising primaries where the secretary to his government was the chief returning officer. His words: “The Ogun State governor decided in his wisdom to conduct his own self help. I mean resorting to what you can call self-help by conducting what he called his own primary. “The Secretary to Ogun State Government became the Chief Returning Officer and I and other NWC members were watching the television and we saw the Secretary to Ogun State Government proclaiming himself as the returning officer, and purported to have conducted the primary.”

    Amosun, he also claimed, at a point decided to introduce consensus and went ahead to announce the names of those he said were the consensus candidates of the party. The governor’s action, he said, was rejected by other stakeholders in the state, after which the governor settled for direct primary. Oshiomhole said that when the electoral committee sent to the state to conduct the primary got there, Amosun and his preferred candidate, Adekunle Akinlade, refused to participate in the exercise. Dapo Abiodun went on to win the primary, he said. Oshiomhole said Amosun thereafter began to pile pressure on the party’s hierarchy to get the party to accept Akinlade, including mobilising some traditional rulers in the state to visit the President on the matter.

    He vowed that no amount of blackmail would make him or members of the National Working Committee change what had been done in accordance with the laws of the party and in accordance with the provisions of the electoral act unless a court of competent jurisdiction rules otherwise. He said: “As we speak, we have submitted Amosun’s name to INEC as our senatorial candidate (for Ogun Central). “If we had anything against him, we would have found a way to disqualify him. The fact that we submitted his name means we don’t have anything against him. The issue is that he did not have his way. “He announced somebody as the consensus governor. He proceeded to announce another man as deputy governor. “He went on to proclaim himself as the next senator, and he said the current senator, Tejuoso, should step aside. “He also went on to announce that the second senator, also from Ogun State, will step aside while another man will come in. “Governor Amosun went on to announce another man who will be the next speaker, and another one as the next deputy speaker.

    “He also singlehandedly picked eight House of Representatives members. Seven will not return, according to him; only one will return. All these he claimed as consensus.” On Imo State, Oshiomhole said the APC reviewed the report of the panel sent to the state, headed by Ahmed Gulak, and discovered that it substantially met with the guidelines set by the party and decided to uphold the report and adopt the senator as its candidate. Responding to a reporter’s question, the APC chair said: “The governor of Imo State said I should obey the order of the court and the law. I accept that advice wholeheartedly. “Yesterday (Thursday), I received documents from the High Court of Justice in Owerri where Governor Rochas heads the executive arm of government. The Chief Judge of the state ordered that I should not tamper with anything that has been done legally to throw up Uzodinma as the candidate of the party.

    “The sitting Deputy Governor is the one who obtained that order. So, in accordance with the advice of Governor Rochas, I will respect that order of court.” Oshiomhole vowed that he would not be a party to helping the governor to build a political dynasty for himself where he would be a senatorial candidate of the party while his son-in-law would become the governorship candidate. He said Governor Okorocha is already a beneficiary of the party’s belief in doing things in accordance with the principles of fairness and justice. He said: “He completely lost out in the congress that was conducted by my predecessors, and when we came in, he cried foul and we took another look at the process and decided to cancel it, and we conducted another congress that now put a smile on his face.”

    On Zamfara State where INEC said the party did not conduct primaries and will not be allowed to field candidadtes, Oshiomhole said the party is already in court to challenge the INEC position. His words: “We respect the sanctity of INEC and we expect them to remain impartial and not deny the people of Zamfara the opportunity to choose who should be their governor.” He said it would be undemocratic for the electoral management body to deny the party its right in the state. Oshiomhole expressed confidence that justice will prevail and the party will be allowed to present candidates in the state. The APC chair said the party will soon conduct fresh primaries in Rivers to pick its candidates for all elections after the previous list sent to INEC was invalidated by the Supreme Court. He apologised to the judicial arm of government for the invasion of the court by hired thugs in Rivers. He also expressed confidence that President Muhammadu Buhari will emerge winner of the 2019 election, boasting that “Buhari will defeat Atiku in his home town.”

  • Okorocha, Amosun accuse Oshiomhole of injustice

    Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha and Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun yesterday accused All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman Adams Oshiomhole of condoning injustice in the way he ran the party’s primaries.

    They spoke in separate reactions to Wednesday’s defence of the party’s actions on the primaries by the chairman.

    Okorocha, who spoke at the Presidential Villa, said Oshiomhole had been acting without President Muhammadu Buhari’s consent.

    He insisted that his son-in-law Uche Nwosu should be the party’s governorship candidate.

    The parties are due to submit the names of governorship and House of Assembly candidates to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) today.

    Amosun, in a statement by Commissioner for Information Dayo Adeneye, said  Oshiomhole’s  “resort to hiding under the false claims about ‘conscience and integrity’ is cheap.”

    Okorocha, who denied he is heading for another political party, said:  ”Oshiomhole is on his own in this whole thing. There is no Presidency’s support for him to refuse candidates who won elections and give wrong candidates who didn’t win election.

    ”This is the matter and  I will simply say that he is not with the consent of the Presidency, he is on his own.”

    He asked Oshiomhole to respect the rule of law and obey court orders wherever they apply.

    Okorocha added: “This issue of treating court orders as tissue papers must stop; it doesn’t reflect the image of our party. He must act quickly to fix the integrity of this party because his coming in ought to have brought joy into the party and not sadness.”

    Asked if the APC had started to disintegrate with the crises, the governor said:  “Well, APC will not disintegrate for as long as the person, Muhammadu Buhari is still the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and remains the leader of this party.

    ”So we cannot give that credit to the chairman. He cannot disintegrate this party; the party is still intact, just that many people are hurt. Since his inception and after these primaries, we are losing almost five million voters because of anger, protest everywhere and he needs to be called to order.

    ”He has to respect the rule of law, respect court orders and do the right thing – obey court orders where applicable and not turned himself into INEC.

    On whether Oshiomhole is sticking to Hope Uzodinma with the deadline being today, Okorocha said: “He can not be standing on Hope Uzodinma because that man did not win election. You cannot compare somebody who won 265,000 votes with somebody who won 7,000 votes.

    “He (Hope Uzodinma) never won election and you cannot impose a candidate who is unacceptable to the people to the state, that is how serious the matter is now.

    Asked the implication of submitting Uzodinma’s name to INEC by the APC, he said: “He can’t! I don’t think the National Working Committee will do that because in the first place, the National Working Committee sent a 13-man delegation who conducted election and 12 of them signed and proven that Uche Nwosu won the election with 265,000 votes as against Hope Uzodinma who got less than 7,000 votes.

    ”So they can’t do that. And there is a letter to that effect from the National Working Committee, saying Uche Nwosu won. There is a Certificate of Return given to Uche Nwosu, there is a police report saying Uche Nwosu, there is INEC report saying Uche Nwosu.

    ”So nobody can do that and if they do that, that must be the worst imposition in the history of Nigeria.”

    On Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s support for Oshiomhole, Okorocha said: “No; may be he is being misinformed; if he is properly informed, he will not say what Oshiomhole is doing is the right thing.”

    Reacting to the rumour that he was planning to join SDP, the governor said: “SDP? How can I build a house and leave it for someone else? I am in APC. I founded the APC. I gave the name APC and so this is our party and we must continue with the party and build the party for victory.”

    In the statement, Amosun said: ”We state without any fear of equivocation that no one, at least not on the side of Senator Amosun, has requested or expected Oshiomhole to sell his conscience. The least we expect of him is to abide by the rules  and guidelines of the APC. Oshiomhole knows, as we know, that in the  instance of the last primaries in Ogun State, he has fallen short of the minimum standards of justice, equity and fairness. The resort to

    hiding under the false claims about “conscience and integrity” is cheap.

    “Oshiomhole knows that there were no other gubernatorial primaries in Ogun State other than the one that produced Hon. Adekunle Akinlade as candidate.

    “He knows that the primaries into national and legislative offices were won hundred per cent by those declared winner by the panel he sent to Ogun State to oversee the exercise.

    “In his conduct, Oshiomhole has exhibited disdain for the interest of the APC and that of the National Leader of the party, President Muhammadu Buhari. Senator Amosun remains committed to his convictions about President Buhari and nothing in the shenanigan of the primaries will change that.

    “Oshiomhole’s claim that only three governors are  aggrieved about the conduct of the primaries flies in the face of the  nation-wide outcry that remains loud, trailing the exercise several  weeks after. We remind him that in any case, justice is not dependent on the number of whom it has been denied. Injustice to one is  injustice to all.

    “The overwhelming majority of members of the APC in  Ogun State remain unshaken in their rejection of the gangsterism that  has been visited on them in the conduct of the primaries. They remain resolved that the attempt to hand over their state and their patrimony  to a rapacious gang of expansionists in the South West will be resisted, not only by members of the APC but by the entire people of Ogun State who are too enlightened to tolerate such abomination.”

     

  • We’ll reconcile with Amosun, Okorocha, Yari, says Oshiomhole

    All Progressives Congress (APC) Chairman Adams Oshiomhole is confident that the party will reconcile with three of its governors who are aggrieved over the result of the primaries.

    He named the governmors as Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun); Rochas Okorocha (Imo) and Abdulaziz Yari (Zamfara).

    Speaking to reporters at Aso Villa after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, Oshiomhole said he would not betray his conscience or what he believes is right to keep his job.

    “And those who know, know that at my age I cannot learn new tricks. I am absolutely committed to justice, fairness.  I’m  a stickler to enforcement of rules; because the source of relevance is derived from rules. I have lived my life fighting for justice and fairness,” he said, adding:

    “Three governors are not particularly pleased with the outcome of the primaries in their states.

    “Change is easy, we all want change but the process of change can be traumatising.

    “These are internal family issues; they are my friends, and that is important , even in moment of distress; that friendship I want to believe is enough to help us to build a reconciliation.

    “There is no running away from the fact that we are the governing party, which has a higher stake; we are the one in the news. If we were in the stock market, our shares would have increased considerably.

    “So, it is not surprising that there is some disquiet, but I remain a friend to these governors. I respect them; I appreciate them for the fact that but for their support, I will not be chairman and you don’t go stepping on toes of those who helped you to get into position.

    “But however, I thought I was clear and I remain clear that helping me to get to the position, it was to help APC to return to its core values of progressive politics, of fairness, of justice, of adherence to rule of law and total submission to the extant provisions of our party constitution.

    “In doing that, you don’t look at power; you look at what is; what is just.

    I think that with time, we will reconcile all these; (Ibikunle) Amosun is my good friend; we have known each other for a very long time; we exchange personal visits in addition to official visits; Zamfara Governor (Yari) has been the  Chairman of Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) and I was an active member of that forum; we had a wonderful time together and I believe in the future, we are going to have wonderful time together. Rochas Okorocha is one of those who had issues with my predecessor and I did my best to try and resolve those issues.

    “And I am happy that God used us to do that not by cheating in his favour but by doing what is right,” he said.

    Oshiomhole went on: “It is just that once you stick to the goal, sometimes, you either get caught on the right side or the wrong side.

    “I will say it is the tree that bears fruits that attracts stones; the tree that doesn’t bear fruits doesn’t attract any stones.

    “I have no illusions; this job I am doing is not a pensionable job, but I did promise myself that if I am going to be on this job for one day, I will do according to the rules and according to my conscience; I will be fair and just to all and God will give me the courage and the wisdom to do His will. How far that can take me is exclusively in the hands of God.

    “The truth is, we have 36 states and FCT and we do have 36 state organs and FCT and as far as I know, we have 23 governors; to be exact.

    “If there was any temptation in Nigeria, it is temptation towards power, not temptation towards the powerless.

    “So, all I have tried is to find some courage to enforce the rules and I think an overwhelming majority of the governors appreciate that I have done my best because change is not easy.

    “We all want change but the process of change can be quite traumatising, because it is not painless. People have been used to a particular way of doing things; to encourge them to do them differently can be a challenge.

    “We have a political system where it seems to the observer and even the analyst,  that we have run a political system over the years where of you are very powerful, you simply can’t

    “So, here I am as national chairman conducting primaries, the outcome of which some very powerful people did not see their preferred candidate emerging.”

    Oshiomhole regretted that it is only in Nigeria that one can have 10 aspirants competing for one seat and one person emerges and the remaining nine will wonder why they did not win.

  • How Amosun is imposing candidates on Ogun APC, by chieftain

    A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Wasinmi, Ewekoro Local Government, Ogun State, Mr. Bolaji Akinola, has described Governor Ibikunle Amosun as “the real problem of APC and inclusive party politics” in the state.

    Speaking in Abeokuta, the state capital yesterday,  Akinola said Amosun willfully imposes candidates on the party without recourse to democratic processes.

    “The manner Governor Amosun carries on in Ogun State should concern any well-meaning party member. The governor neither consults nor allows the popular will to prevail. He imposes whomever he wants on the party and that’s it,” he said.

    Akinola said during the APC ward, local government and state congresses early this year, only those handpicked by Amosun were returned to office.

    “I fully participated in all the congresses and I can tell you authoritatively that there was no voting anywhere except in Ifo Constituency 1 and that was because the Deputy Speaker of Ogun Assembly, Hon. Taiwo Oluomo, who is the lawmaker from Ifo constituency, defied Amosun and insisted that the right thing be done.

    “During the state congress in May also, there were no elections. No party member can come out and say they voted for any candidate. All the party executives that emerged, from the Chairman Chief Derin Adebiyi to the lowest position, were all handpicked by Amosun the night before. They just announced their names to us and that was it,” he said.

    He said: “The real primaries in Ogun State APC were the ones that produced Dapo Abiodun as our governorship candidate. Every other thing, including the so-called primaries conducted by the Derin-led exco, which purportedly produced Abdulkadri Akinlade, is nothing but a sham.

    “Forget the propaganda dished out daily by the apparatus of the state government; people are unhappy with the Amosun administration and that’s why he is afraid of popular votes. He will rather write results than subject his candidates to popular votes.

    “But we are at the point where we are saying ‘enough is enough’ to Amosun and his co-travellers. Our people have been subjugated and held in bondage for too long and the time for their liberation is now.

    “Akinlade is not a popular candidate and any attempt to impose him on the state will backfire against the APC as a party, but with someone like Abiodun, who was chosen by the popular will of the people, victory is sure.”

     

  • Amosun: my govt committed to workers’ welfare

    Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun has said his administration paid more attention to serving and retired workers than any other past administration in the state.

    The governor stated this at an interactive session with stakeholders during a town hall meeting on next year’s budget at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta, the state capital.

    He noted that while the immediate past government in the state paid N3.9 billion as monthly workers’ salary, his administration pays between N8 billion and N9 billion monthly while retired permanent secretaries earn a monthly pension of N400,000, compared to the previous N40,000 they were collecting.

    Amosun said some pensioners were collecting N200 monthly pension, adding that with the regularisation of his administration, the least paid pensioner gets N5,000 monthly.

    He said: “We have upgraded the monthly pension of our former workers to N5,000. Some of them were collecting as low as N200 and N300 monthly before. So, the lowest take-home for any pensioner now is N5,000.”

    The Vice Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), Alhaji Bashir Ashiru, hailed the state government for being good to pensioners.

    A statement by Gbemisola Akanbi of the Ministry of Finance said the event was attended by stakeholders from the formal and informal sectors.

    Also, Amosun reassured the people that his administration would accelerate work on road projects that have been awarded as soon as the rains subside.

  • Amosun, Akeredolu, Fayemi, Bindow: no plot against Buhari

    FOUR governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday defended their integrity after being accused by a pro-Buhari Campaign group of working against the President’s re-election and plotting National Chairman Adams Oshiomhole’s ouster.

    The Federation of Buhari Support Group yesterday after a solidarity march in support of Oshiomhole at the nationa secretariat, named the governors as Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo), Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna), Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun) and Jibrilla Bindow (Adamawa).

    In a statement by its Coordinator, Alhaji Ibrahim Sikiru and Publicity Secretary Gbenga Bojuwomi, the group said Akredolu had been busy collecting signatures of governors and party chairmen with the intention to generate a vote of no confidence in Oshiomhole.

    The group alleged that Akeredolu was determined to fight Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Oshiomhole and President Buhari, adding that with the way the governor had been going, “it will be a miracle if the President gets 10 per cent votes from Ondo State in the 2019 presidential election”.

    The group said “Federation of Buhari Support Group in its indepth investigations observed that a lot of damage has been done underground by the conservative governors to thwart the bright chances of the party in the forthcoming general elections.

    “Moreover, the group in its previous submission, had raised the alarm on many occasions that Governor Akeredolu was determined to fight three personalities in APC, President Buhari, Asiwaju Tinubu and Oshiomhole. Mr. Governor of Ondo State is not happy with all the strategies by APC Chairman to reunite the party with a view to bringing democracy to the door-step of party members by the introduction and adoption of direct primaries for all elections.

    “Instead for this governor to focus on projects that will better the lot of the good people of Ondo State, he is busy running from North to South collecting signatures of governors and party chairmen in states to pass a vote of no confidence in Oshiomhole.

    “Moreso, Akeredolu is not contesting election this time around. It clearly shows that he does not care about the success or victory of the APC in the 2019 elections.

    “ Akeredolu is the leader of the new conservative movement within the APC with the assistance of Fayemi (Ekiti), Amosun (Ogun) El-Rufai (Kaduna) and Bindow (Adamawa)

    “It was gathered at the weekend, that the sudden death of tenure elongation for their preferred man, Chief John Oyegun, and consequent emergence of Oshiomhole as national chairman to restructure the party has not gone down well with these people, most especially Akeredolu, who is a beneficiary of Odigie-Oyegun’s style of impunity and lawlessness.

    “We believe in the leadership of the party ably led by Adams Oshiomhole and his determination to position the party for landslide victory in the forthcoming elections.

    “Our party is greater than any individual or group.Let us come together and face our common goal or remaining the most efficient and trusted party in our clime. Together we can make this happen.”

    However, in separate reactions, the governors faulted the claims.

    Fayemi  said he enjoys the best of relationship with Buhari, Oshiomhole and Asiwaju Tinubu.

    He described the group’s claim as”baseless and unfounded”.

    Speaking through his Chief Press Secretary, Olayinka Oyebode, Fayemi wondered how the group came about the alleged feud with the three senior party figures.

    Fayemi said he holds Buhari, Oshiomhole and Tinubu in high esteem, noting that the trio contributed immensely to his victory in the governorship election

    He said: “Governor Fayemi holds President Buhari, Asiwaju Tinubu and Comrade Oshimohole in high esteem and he still maintains with them a good relationship, which is not hidden.

    ”We don’t know where the Buhari Support Group got their story from; Governor Fayemi has the best of respect for these eminent party leaders and he has no reason to be working against them.

    ”Let us ask ourselves, on what basis will Dr. Fayemi will be working against the President? This was the man who appointed him Minister and supported him to regain the governorship seat.

    “Why will he fight Comrade Oshiomhole? It was under his chairmanship that APC won back Ekiti and everybody knew the role played by the national chairman.

    “Asiwaju Tinubu is a mentor to the governor; both of them had come a long way in a relationship that has lasted over two decades.

    “In fact, Asiwaju attended the governor’s inauguration last week and the roles he played in the APC victory in Ekiti election cannot be forgotten in a hurry.

    “Governor Fayemi has no reason to fight or work against our revered President, our respected national chairman and our revered national leader.

    “The allegation is false, baseless, unfounded and exists only in the imagination of those peddling it.”

    Akeredolu said he was too busy with state matters and working to develop the state for him to be bothered by “spurious” allegations.

    Chief Press Secretary to the Governor Segun Ajiboye said those behind “fake allegations like these are out for only one thing- seeking to be noticed”.

    He described Akeredolu as “a loyal party man, who is working and will continue to work for the party’s progress and do anything that will ensure that the APC continues to win elections at all levels in the country.”

    Bindow dissociated himself from the allegations.

    His Special Adviser on Media, Macaulay Hunohoshi, said Bindow is a loyal member of the APC who has no reason to plot any evil against its leaders.

    “Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu is a respected leader and statesman that Governor Bindow holds in high esteem. Bindow has nothing whatsoever against him and could therefore not do anything that amounts to fighting him.”

    On Oshiomhole, Macaulay said Bindow, who won the Adamawa State governorship ticket following “a transparently credible primary” conducted by the APC NWC, could not be bitter against the party chairman, let alone want him removed.

    “Comrade Oshiomhole is a former labour leader and two-term governor of Edo State who has shown great leadership as chairman of the APC,” he said.

    Amosun, in a statement personaly signed last night, said: ”The ultimate aim of the purveyors of these unconscionable falsehoods is to drive a wedge between me and the President and tarnish my hard-earned reputation. This hatchet job will not work as Mr President is discerning enough to know the sources of the pack of concocted lies.

    “The relationship between President Buhari and myself transcends partisan politics. Senator Amosun holds President Buhari in the highest esteem and nothing will change that.”

    “The target of this grand campaign of calumny is actually our dear President Muhammadu Buhari

    “For the avoidance of doubt, let me state categorically that the people trying to cause disaffection between those of us loyal and committed to Mr. President and the success of APC are plotting to strip Mr. President bare, so that their grand design to achieve unfettered domination of the party would be achieved.”

     

  • Amosun: Ogun APC primary result fake

    Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun yesterday accused All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman Adams Oshiomhole of conniving with others to write a fake primary result which produced Mr. Dapo Abiodun as the state’s governorship candidate.

    Speaking in Abeokuta, the state capital, after swearing in Chief Judge Mosunmola Dipeolu, the governor also accused some of his colleagues in the Southwest of playing roles in the Ogun APC matter.

    Amosun said: “The President already knows there was no election in Ogun State. He knows that they just went to Lagos, wrote all results and that what they did is fraud. If the National Working Committee (NWC) or the National Chairman said there was any election in Ogun State, it was all fraud. That is what I said.

    “Mr President already knows there was no election in Ogun State other than the one we held. The issue of Chief Olusegun Osoba and Asiwaju and the others: what we said was that there was definite silence from their end and silence means consent. You can record me and publish it in your newspapers.

    “We have not heard one word from any of them. Was there any election in Ogun State? Yes or no? They should come out. Those who are hiding behind one finger they cannot come out. People at this level should be courageous enough to take a position, to tell us if there was an election.

    “The day they said they did it or not: the one we had, there was live telecast. People even witnessed it.”

    Osoba, a former Ogun State governor and a leader of the party, said yesterday he would not take up issues with Amosun.

    “It is an aberration that a father in Yoruba land should be engaging his child in a shouting match in the public.

    “At 80, I cannot be answering a 60-year-old on the pages of newspapers. There is no comment,” Osoba said.