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Tag: Comrade Adams Oshiomhole

  • Buhari shuts down Katsina for APC rally

    Activities in Katsina state were completely brought to a halt Thursday, thanks to the Grand Finale of the APC Presidential Campaign Rally, as traders and several other activities voluntarily closed shops in other to receive President Muhammadu Buhari and his entourage at the Muhammad Dikko Stadium

    The attendance in Thursday’s Rally at the 30,000 Seater capacity Stadium perhaps surpassed most rallies held in other parts of the Country, including the PDP Presidential campaign Rally held at the same Stadium last week.

    Both inside and outside the stadium, including the lawns and the Car parks were filled to the brim with supporters of the All Progressives Congress

    The National Chairman of the APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole described the massive turn out as clear manifestation of the strong confidence Nigerians reposed on Buhari’s Administration.

    He said‘’ Mr. President I am sure and I have every reason to believe that you will feel proud of your people, as this will dismiss the old notion that a Prophet is not honored in his hometown

    ‘’This is indeed the grand finale of the APC Nationwide campaign rallies when PDP started their campaign in Sokoto they thought they had the monopoly of attendance but this have disproved them’’

    Read Also: Thousands troop out in Katsina for Buhari’s campaign

    ‘’Both the Bible and the Quran are unanimous in affirming that by next tomorrow you will be re-elected, Nigerians who have come to appreciate your integrity will troop out in their numbers to re-elect you by Saturday. By Fighting Corruption you are making more friends while the opposition is getting lesser people on their side’’

    Oshiomhole further criticized the PDP for Promising to re-introduced the discredited Structural Adjustment Program SAP, devalue the Naira and other Policies that will draw the Country backwards saying Nigerians will reject them at the Polls

    Governor Aminu Bello Masari of Katsina State in his address at the occasion described President Buhari as a man of impeccable Character, who meant well for the common man, he urged the People to vote for the President and candidates for the National Assembly

    In a brief message at the occasion President Buhari said he was overwhelmed by the turnout of supporters and promised to do more to promote the welfare of the common man, improve infrastructural development and Agriculture.

    He said ’’we will not betray your trust and neither shall we let those who betray your trust to go scot-free’’

  • INEC working for PDP, says Oshiomhole

    ALL Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman Comrade Adams Oshiomhole yesterday accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of working for the main opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP), ahead of the general elections.

    Oshiomhole was, however, quick to add that the governing party would not decent to the level of bringing down state institutions because the party believes that state institutions should be allowed to perform their functions.

    Responding to questions about an alleged collusion between the INEC and President Muhammadu Buhari, Oshiomhole alleged that at the moment, two Resident Electoral Commissioners in the Southsouth have been going about campaigning with the PDP.

    Oshiomhole, who asked Nigerians not to return the PDP to power, said the pledge by the PDP candidate to float the naira was a recipe for economic woes, adding that Atiku has always been part of problem facing the nation.

    He also dismissed PDP’s allegations that the APC was responsible for burning some INEC offices that have recently been engulfed in flame, stressing that he could easily allude to the fact that the PDP burnt the INEC offices because they are afraid of losing elections in those places.

    He said: “If anything, this INEC has been very unfair to the APC. But we just discovered that we have a responsibility. The fact that we are a governing party imposes on us a certain level of code that you can’t be seen to rubbish every institution, because if we rubbish everything, it would mean that we don’t want election. INEC believed everything the PDP says.

    “As we speak, there are two Resident Electoral Commissioners, who are virtually campaigning line by line with the PDP in the Southsouth. INEC, without giving us any explanation and without any concrete evidence, went ahead to say we can’t field candidates in Zamfara.

    “Is that the way your friends behave if they are your friends? INEC is working more for the PDP based on evidence I  can show. How can they explain that a court of competent jurisdiction gave orders in Zamfara to say this candidate is eligible to contest election and another high court in Abuja also gave a verdict saying APC did not conclude its primaries, but did not give order to INEC?

    “There is no order issued by the Federal High Court in Abuja. The Court of Appeal made a pronouncement on this matter today that there was no order from the court in Abuja, but that there was a concrete order from a Zamfara High Court, which upheld the primaries that was conducted in Zamfara.

    “The INEC Chairman has said that when there are two court orders, they will adopt the last judgment. In Zamfara State, the Abuja judgment came first and the Zamfara judgment came last, even though it is the same day.

    “More as INEC has said they will always obey the last judgment, when it came to the Zamfara issue, they changed the goal post. As  media practitioners, you have to be careful. When you say people alleged there were meetings and can’t even cite any, it is a disservice. We have been at the receiving end of abuse.

    “There is a candidate in Kano, whose nomination we forwarded to INEC, but they changed the nomination and as we speak, we are in court over that. We showed our evidence. When I saw Atiku talking about rigging today, I laughed.

    “Do you remember the confession of the former Deputy Senate President who, on national television and not social media where anything is possible, narrated how President Olusegun Obasanjo used him and Atiku to rig election, how they wrote results and how they collude with INEC. This same Atiku was in office when Mantu was doing those things.”

    “So, if PDP functionaries have enumerated how they use to rig election, how can in all fairness point to President Muhammadu Buhari, who has been victim of election rigging three times such that in our legal history, it is part of precedent that the Supreme Court was persuaded to accept that election, where ballot papers had no serial number was OK and not a major infraction.”

  • Oshiomhole: PDP deceived Igbo for 16 years

    The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole on Friday accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)  of deceiving the people of the five Southeast States for the 16years it held sway at the Aso Rock Villa.

    Oshiomhole, citing the inability of the PDP to fix Southeast roads during its years in office, said most of the same highways have now been made motorable by President Muhammadu Buhari in only three and a half years.

    Speaking in Umuahia at the flag off campaign of the party’s governorship candidate in the state,Dr. Uche Ogah, the APC chair said: “The Igbo made a mistake in 2015, they should not make the same mistake twice.

    “In 2019 on the 16th of February, everybody should compare the darkness of 16years and the light that they are beginning to see under President Buhari under two and a  half years. The choice will be yours to make.

    “You must elect all the senatorial and House of Representatives candidates

     “The road networks in the Southeast was nothing to write home about in the 16years of PDP in the country.

    “The more the PDP broke the ground for the second Niger Bridge, the more bridge became weaker.

    “But Muhammadu Buhari, without changing his name to Azikiwe, is doing great things in the construction of the second Niger Bridge.

    “Under the PDP, PDP farmers started growing cassava on the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway. Today, President Muhammadu Buhari, without changing his name to Azikiwe or Ebele, is rebuilding that road. Many days for the liars, 2019 for the man of truth.”

    He urged Abians to vote out incumbent Governor Okezie Ikpeazu and replace him with Ogah, saying Ikpeazu has failed workers in the state by not utilizing the Paris Club refunds to pay their salary arrears.

    He said: “as a former president of the NLC, I know that the primary purpose of government is the welfare of citizens. And you cannot lay claim to public welfare when you are treating your employees as slaves.

    “The incumbent governor of the PDP collected Paris fund refund and President Buhari told him to go and pay my people in Abia State.

    “Ikpeazu, how do you sleep when your workers are not being paid? He collected the Paris fund refund twice and ended up diverting the funds.

    “We are here to win. When Uche Ogah wins, he is going to provide progressive governance. That is why we are in business. We want to measure how much impact that we have made in the lives of the people.”

    Oshiomhole presented Ogah, his running mate,Mr. Martin Azubuike and the APC senatorial candidates former governor of the  State, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, Senator Nkechi Nwaogu, and Sir Marc Wabara for Abia North, Abia Central and Abia South senatorial Districts respectively to the people.

    Also speaking, Dr. Uzor-Kalu urged Abia people to vote out PDP and enthrone a committed government.

    He said: “when I was Governor,  salaries were paid promptly. There was free education. I built this stadium. Today our university is dead. T A Orji wasted eight years and left Abia this way. We will make a change.

    “We will elect Buhari with 70 percent votes. We will elect Ogah. He is a businessman like me. We will pay salaries and pensions. No new roads in Aba and Umuahia 12 years after I left. Today no road leads to Abia because of people like Ikpeazu.”

  • God will not allow PDP return to power – Oshiomhole

    National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has declared God will not allow the return of the opposition Peoples Democratic Power (PDP) to power in 2019.

    He accused the former ruling party of looting the nation dry throughout its 16 years in power.  .

    Oshiomhole said only President Muhammadu Buhari can salvage the country and return it to prosperity.

    The APC helmsman spoke on Thursday in Lafia, capital of Nasarawa State while flagging off the 2019 state wide campaign.

    He urged the people of Nasarawa state to vote massively for President Buhari and other APC candidates in the 2019 general elections.

    He also presented the party’s flag to the governorship candidate Engr Abdullahi Sule and all other APC Senate, Reps and state Assembly candidates.

    He explained God healed the President to shame the PDP, which he said wished him death.

    Buhari, according to him, will win the 2019 general elections with landslide votes.

    He lauded the giant strides of Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura in the state and his policy of inclusiveness and urged the APC governorship candidate to follow the footsteps of the outgoing Al-Makura when elected.

    He explained that he has painstakingly followed the developmental achievements of the governor in all sectors of the state and appealed to the people of Nasarawa south to reward Al-Makura by voting him to represent them at the Upper Chamber.

    Al-Makura urged the people of the state to return President Buhari in 2019 and all other APC candidates in the state.

    He said the President has done a lot for the state by providing 33 KVA electricity and award of contract for the dualisation of Keffi- Makurdi, Abuja road among many other achievements.

    He thanks all the governorship aspirants of the party in the state for agreeing to work tirelessly for the victory of the party in the state.

    Sule assured he will use his experience in the private sector to bring development to the state.

    He noted that he will continue from where Al-Makura stops and take the state to the next level, adding that he will hit the ground running immediately he take over from Al-Makura because he has already set the template.

     

     

  • My integrity, a big challenge to the PDP – Oshiomhole 

    …Okorocha, Amosun, Yari missing in APC reconciliation committees

     

     

    National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole said Wednesday that recent attacks on his person were aimed at undermining his integrity which he said is a major challenge to the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

    Oshiomhole who spoke while inaugurating six committee to work as National Peace and reconciliation committee to reconcile aggrieved members the party across the six geopolitical zones said the only integrity the PDP were bringing on board was the integrity of sharing the nation’s resources.

    Read Also:Obasanjo, Oshiomhole, Akpabio storm Jonathan’s book launch

    Three Governors of the party who are having a running battle with the National Chairman of the party, Rochas Okorocha of Imo, Senator Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State and Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara state are the only governors of the party who are not in any of the committees.

    The APC Chairman said he had been a victim of people’s anger as a result of the outcome of the party primaries said it was not surprising to see the number of aggrieved persons who felt that the outcome of the primaries should have favored them.

    He said “I have had my own fair share of people, who, out of anger chose to target me as a person. Unfortunately it coincide with what the opposition PDP have always wanted because bringing on board my past reputation is a challenge to the PDP that has no reputation. If they had any, it is a reputation of share the money and these are no longer in the realm of speculations because it has been subject of several litigations across the country.”

    Comrade Oshiomhole explained that the party has a responsibility to placate members of the party who are aggrieved, stressing that party had so much challenge as a result of the growing confidence of the Nigerian people on the party.

    He said: “We want you to help us find in-house solution with a view to finding peace and ensuring internal unity and harmony within the APC family. We have gone through a very crucial stage in the processes leading to the next presidential election, National Assembly, governorship and state houses of assembly elections.

    “From my own records, of the 36 states and the FCT, I believe that we have done extremely well. It is almost impossible for even the most gifted child to score 100 percent in every subject. The more questions you have to answer, the more the chances of missing some of them.

    “Four years ago, around this time, we were in opposition and therefore, the value of our ticket was certainly not near where they are today. More and more women and men of conviction now subscribes to contesting election on our platform.

    “I believe that to our collective credit, under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari who is our candidate in the next Presidential election, assisted by the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, we have all worked very hard and we have been very well led by Mr. President. As they say, you can never under estimate the power of example.

    “We have not solved the problems of Nigeria, but those with good memories will have no difficulties in comparing the previous 16 years of PDP rules and the past three and half years of APC rule.

    “Our people voted for change because they wanted to change the way the country is managed, they wanted to change the way government and governance is approached, they wanted to eliminate corruption in the process of governance, they wanted to reconcile efforts with reward; they wanted to eliminate a situation where people who work so hard earn very little and those who have no business address are the billionaires.

    “They wanted to address a situation where every week, a Nigerian was buying a private jet when he had no business address. The challenge of changing the reward system that was on ground was obviously not going to be easy.

    “The House if bigger that it was four years ago because those who initially had reservations have since realized that the President meant business and the APC was delivering on the promises that we made.

    “As they say, success has many fathers and failure is an orphan. The fact of these accomplishment which has enlarged the house and brought in more political activists and political leaders who are people of huge electoral value across the states has meant that the internal democratic process which we were obliged under our constitution to go through was getting more intense and competitive with more people showing interest in the affairs of our party.

    “But we are still learning the full import of multi party democracy and of a free and fair election. If it were possible to have angels in politics, and ten of them decide to contest for the office of a governor of a state, nine angels will lose nomination, not because they are less pure, but because only one person will be chosen.

    “Whether that choice is through imposition, consensus, direct or indirect primary, it is obvious from the onset that nine will go without the ticket. This is something we ought to expect and that every democrat should readily appreciate.

    “I am not surprised that inspite of the efforts that we have made, we still have some persons and groups in few states where some people feel about uncomfortable with the outcome and they feel that the system was not just to them.

    “For me, it is not sufficient to rely on the fact that colleagues and I on the NWC, as much as we tried to ensure that the rules were obeyed and ensure that the process was transparent and that we protected everyone, those who the system did not favour are not only questioning the outcome, but appeared quite disappointed with some very bitter and resorting to statements that might be unhelpful as we approach the elections.

    “As Chairman, I have since learnt that once you step out to be the Chairman of even a local Association, you opt to be the dustbin to which everybody empty everything. I have had my own fair share of people, who, out of anger chose to target me as a person.

    “Unfortunately it coincide with what the opposition PDP have always wanted because bringing on board my past reputation is a challenge to the PDP that has no reputation. If they had any, it is a reputation of share the money and these are no longer in the realm of speculations because it has been subject of several litigations across the country.

    “In moving forward, it is not a question of whether we think that we have done everything perfect, but even if the outcome of a perfect exercise makes one person unhappy, as leaders privileged to have been entrusted with the management of our party and ensure there is peace and tranquility within our party, we must, inspite of our conviction that we have done our very best make every effort to identify those who are unhappy and use our in-house huge human resource to try and find in-house solution.

    “From our tradition, I know that seeking peace and finding solution, the quality of people involved also matters. We believe that these committees which include our governors who inspite of their own reservations are at home and at peace with the party and are working hard to ensure that the party win their respective zones, we can call on them to come and help us in this process of peace building and reconciliation.

    “The truth is that when somebody is unhappy, we have a responsibility to make them happy. We also realized that sometimes, women have special gift of persuasion and that is why we have enough women of substance in this committee to help carry out this reconciliation.”

    Responding on behalf of other members of the committee, Borno state Governor, Kashim Shettima who Head the south west committee assured the party leadership that the committee will work hard to reconcile All members and work as a united family to ensure victory for the party in the general election.

    Shettima said “Contestation for power is not a tea party affair, it is common with human nature but the maturity with which these issues were handled depends on the quality of leadership in our system. We have to commend the leadership of the party.

    “We have governors in 23 states and like I said contest is a normal phenomenon in human life. I want assure the leadership and members of the party that we shall try our best to see that we reconciled our aggrieved members. Whatever is our grievances we have a goal and the end is to see that President Muhammadu Buhari wins the forthcoming election.

    “We should ensure that our moves from the present 23 states to control 30 states at the next election and also control the National Assembly. To achieve this however, we have to put our house in order.”

     

  • Confusion as APC holds parallel primaries in Cross River

    Confusion trailed the conduct of the governorship primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Cross River State Monday as two factions of the party held two separate exercises to produce two governorship candidates.

    Although the faction that was recently inaugurated by National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, led by Dr Mathew Achigbe, had resumed office as the state executive council of the party, the other faction led by Mr. Godwin Etim-John had continued to insist they were the authentic one.

    Read Also:‘I will not quit APC, still loyal to party’

    So Monday, both factions had overseen the conduct of the two separate primaries. Both had adopted the direct primaries’ method.

    From the Etim-John faction, Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Pastor Usani Usani, emerged as the winner of the primaries scoring 47, 313 votes.

    Announcing the result at the collation centre of the party Secretariat of their own faction in Calabar, the Chairman of the gubernatorial election Committee, Emmanuel Annom, said the Minister having scored the highest number of lawful votes in the gubernatorial primaries is declared the winner and Governorship candidate of the party for the 2019 general elections in the state

    A breakdown of the result he read indicated other aspirants got as follows; Senator John Owan Enoh, 1, 486 votes; Eyo Etim Nyong, 1, 168 votes; John Upan Odey, 1099 votes; and Edem Duke, 1, 322 votes.

    Mr Etim John said the processes the party went through were turbulent and rigorous.

    “We thank all the aspirants. We have appeal panel, all those who feel aggrieved should follow the due process of our party constitution and accept the outcome,” he said.

    At press time yesterday the other primaries, which was conducted by Ali Magaji led committee, was yet to collate the results from the 196 wards in the 18 local government areas of the state.

    The governorship primaries of the Achigbe-led executive council, was shifted to Monday from Sunday by the National Vice-Chairman of the APC, South-South, Chief Hilliard Eta, following the late arrival of electoral materials.

    But a top party source cried foul, alleging that materials were not evenly distributed to the wards.

    However, when contacted Monday evening, Eta said that the election had been conducted in all the 196 wards, adding that collation would soon commence.

    Two governorship aspirants of the party, Chief Edem Duke and Prof. Etim Nyong, had on Sunday raised the alarm that the party structure was being hijacked by Eta to favour a governorship aspirant from the central senatorial district.

    Eta had described the allegation as false, saying the process would be free and fair.

  • Osun poll: Our deal with Omisore, by Oshiomhole

    The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, has said that the party did not offer Senator Omisore any financial inducement to gain his support during the rerun election conducted on Thursday, adding that the former deputy governor never made any such demand.

    Oshiomhole also gave reasons why the party disqualified the Minister of Women Affairs, Hajia Aisha Jummai Alhassan, from contesting the governorship election primary in Taraba State, saying the party was not convinced about the loyalty of the minister.

    Addressing a news conference in Abuja, the former Edo State governor said the party gave Senator Omisore the opportunity to sponsor candidates to contest elections on the APC platform, stressing, however, that saying the APC offered him money was out of place.

    He said: “I said we had a negotiation and had a deal that has to do with the governance of Osun State. I didn’t go with money and I don’t have money to give to anybody. He didn’t ask, and there was no basis for him to ask.

    “The word automatic ticket has meaning. Having regards to the provisions of electoral act which makes primary mandatory, can you at the same time talk of automatic ticket?

    “Even when I spoke to our National Assembly members, it is not that I don’t know that the word exists, but I simply didn’t find it useful and never used it.

    “We agreed that he will have an opportunity for him to contest for a seat on APC platform. Not just for senate or House of Representatives, but also for house of assembly.

    “That is why I said we spoke about the immediate, which is the Osun election, and going forward.”

    The APC Chairman said further that “both the APC and the PDP recognise that we needed to do business with the other minority parties that participated in the election, and it wasn’t difficult to understand who to do business with if you want to influence the outcome of the election.

    “It was clear that the SDP was largely in control of those areas. If you want to do a coalition, you identify the leaders who have influence and enter into negotiation.

    “While PDP were shouting in the morning that they were going to challenge the rerun, their leader went to Senator Omisore to persuade him to negotiate a possible working arrangement.

    “Recognising the fact that SDP was critical to this conversation, we decided to also open negotiation with their leadership, and I was impressed by his emphasis.

    “He told us that, yes he has lost, but he believes that he can still win if we have a deal that seeks to address the primary purpose of his participation in the process, which is the governance of the state and specific policy issues that were of concern to him.

    “We had a robust conversation and reached an agreement which I think is healthy.

    “We didn’t have to negotiate about compensation or about paying money to anyone. The issue was about governance, education and how we can have a working relationship ahead of the general election and in future elections.

    “We were able to strike a deal that has to do with the specific issues that affect the welfare and the wellbeing of the people of Osun State.

    “Whereas Saraki failed to strike a deal with the SDP, we secured a deal with them and now APC, working with the SDP, had huge influence in those areas, and combining our efforts, it was not strange that at the end, we won.

    “For democracy to flourish, only people who can accept the pain of defeat should participate in an election, because there must be a winner and a loser. But for PDP to take the position as if election is only free and fair if they win is not ideal.

    “When they won election in Cross River last month, we did not hear any voice. They won in Taraba, we did not hear any voice; INEC was perfect. But whenever they lose, INEC is colluding. We do not have the rigging know-how.”

    Speaking on why the Minister of Women Affairs was disqualified, Oshiomhole said: “As for the Hon. Minister of Women Affairs, she has issues that have to do with party loyalty.

    “Our constitution is clear and it dictates that to contest elections or even hold office in the APC, you must be loyal to the party in every material concern.

    “From all she had said in the past and even her coments and general attitude during the screening, the NWC reviewed everything taken together and we arrived at the conclusion that she does not possess the level of loyalty that the APC requires for her to contest elections on our platform.

    “We made it clear when the defections happened that APC may well benefit from these defections if it helps us to be more critical in terms of who we give platform to contest elections, and that there are core values that binds the APC together and they are non-negotiable.

    “The Electoral Act and the APC constitution forbids anyone from being a member of more than one political party at a time. You cannot be a member of APC and be a card carrying member of another party.

    “But when you have a situation where it would appear, based on what you know and based on what I know, that someone is probably APC in the day time maybe for the purpose of retaining certain offices and they are PDP at heart.

    “Or if they are not PDP at heart, they are actually and simply a follower of a one-man permanent presidential candidate…then we have the right to ask ourselves if these attitudes and qualities are characteristics of an ideal member of an APC.

    “So, those are the reasons. We did not want to have a lengthy explanation to do, but she knows why she was disqualified and we know why we denied her the use of our platform.”

    On the Minister of Communication, he said: “He admitted that he did not do the mandatory NYSC as provided for under the law, and in his own judgment, his being a member of the House of Assembly in the state and now as a minister of the federal republic were enough sacrifices.

    “But for us as a party, we know that NYSC is a mandatory scheme. It is not something you may elect to do or abstain from doing, and my understanding of the NYSC Act is that no employer of labour is permitted to employ anyone who graduated under 30 years and who did not obtain an exemption for reasons as provided for in the NYSC Act.

    “So, for us, not participating in the NYSC raises very serious moral issue as well as legal issue. After interviewing him, we were convinced that….for our party, there are clear lessons we need to learn from our recent past when people… anyway, we were convinced that if he did not do NYSC, that for us was enough to disqualify him and we had to find the courage to do so.”

    While commending the people of Osun State for keeping faith with the party, Oshiomhole said: “We have seen over the period that the opposition party has always, whenever it is not winning election, raise issues of rigging. But I do understand PDP is quick to suggest rigging in any election in which it is not favoured by the electorate.

    “The Osun election was substantially free and fair. The fact that some votes were cancelled suggest that some things went wrong the first day. But that those cancellations were effected by INEC also showed the independent of INEC to make decisions on the spot, based on evidence on ground.

    “Reviewing the opinion of genuine monitors, you realize that the fact that it was inconclusive was accepted by both local observers and foreign observers. PDP disagree with the idea of conducting elections in those places where the elections were cancelled.

    “There has been rerun elections in the past that favoured the PDP. A lot of the governors today elected on the PDP platform, especially in the South-South are beneficiaries of inconclusive (elections), and inspite of our reservations, we had to accept those outcomes.

    “In the Osun election, nobody can talk of landslide victory. If anyone had access to manipulate those figures, you will not rig election and do so half-heartedly to the point of leading to inconclusive election.”

  • Osun Election: Our deal with Omisore, by Oshiomhole

    The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has said that the party did not offer Senator Iyiola Omisore any financial inducement to gain his support during the rerun election conducted on Thursday, adding that the former Deputy governor never made any demand.

    Oshiomhole also gave reasons why the party disqualified the Minister of Women Affairs, Hajia Aisha Jummai Alhassan from contesting the governorship elections primary in Taraba state, saying the party was not convinced about the loyalty of the minister to the party.

    Addressing a news conference in Abuja, the former Edo State governor said the party gave Senator Omisore the opportunity to sponsor candidates to contest elections on the APC platform, stressing however that those saying the APC offered him money was out of place.

    He said “I said we had a negotiation and had a deal that has to do with the governance of Osun State. I didn’t go with money and I don’t have money to give to anybody. He didn’t ask and there was no basis for him to ask.

    “The word automatic ticket has meaning. Having regards to the provisions of electoral acts which makes primary mandatory, can you at the same time talk of automatic ticket? Even when I spoke to our National Assembly members, it is not that I don’t know that word exist, but I simply didn’t find it useful and never used it.

    “We agreed that he will have an opportunity for him to contest for a seat on APC platform. Not just for senate or House of Representatives, but also for house of assembly. That is why I said we spoke about the immediate which is the Osun election and going forward.”

    The APC Chairman said further that “Both the APC and the PDP recognizes that we needed to do business with the other minority parties that participated in the election and it wasn’t difficult to understand who to do business with if you want to influence the outcome of the election.

    “It was clear that the SDP was largely in control of those areas. If you want to do a Coalition, you identify the leaders who have influence and enter into negotiation. Why PDP were shouting in the morning, that they were going to challenge the rerun their leader went to Senator Omisore to persuade him to negotiate a possible working arrangement.

    “Recognizing the fact that SDP was critical to this conversation, we decided to also open negotiation with their leadership and I was impressed by his emphasis. He told us that, yes he has lost, but he believe that he can still win if we have a deal that seeks to address the primary purpose of his participation in the process which is the governance of the state and specific policy issues that were of concern to him.

    “We had a robust conversation and reached an agreement which I think is healthy. We didn’t have to negotiate about compensation or about paying money to anyone. The issue was about governance, education and how we can have a working relationship ahead of the general election and in future elections.

    “We were able to strike a deal that has to do with the specific issues that affect the welfare and the well being of the people of Osun State. Whereas Saraki failed to strike a deal with the SDP, we secured a deal with them and now APC, working with the SDP had huge influence in those areas and combining our efforts, it was not strange that at the end, we won.

    “For democracy to flourish, only people who can accept the pain of defeat should participate in an election because there must be a winner and a loser, but for PDP to take the position as if election is only free and fair if they win is not ideal.

    “When they win election in Cross River last month, we did not hear any voice, they won in Taraba, we did not hear any voice, INEC was perfect, but whenever they lost, INEC is colluding. We do not have the rigging no-how.”

    Speaking on why the Minister of a Women Affairs was disqualified, Oshiomhole said “as for the Honourable Minister of Women Affairs, she has issues that have to do with party loyalty. Our constitution is clear and it dictates that to contest elections or even hold office in the APC, you must be loyal to the party in every material concern.

    “From all she had said in the past and even her comments and general attitude during the screening, the NWC reviewed everything taken together and we arrived at the conclusion that she does not possess the level of loyalty that the APC requires for her to contest elections on our platform.

    “We made it clear when the defections happened that APC may well benefit from these defections if it helps us to be more critical in terms of who we give platform to contest elections and that there are core values that binds the APC together and they are non-negotiable.

    “The Electoral Act and the APC constitution forbid anyone from being a member of more than one political party at a time. You cannot be a member of APC and be a card carrying member of another party but when you have a situation where it would appear, based on what you know and based on what I know that someone is probably APC in the day time maybe for the purpose of retaining certain offices and they are PDP at heart.

    “Or if they are not PDP at heart, they are actually and simply a follower of a one-man permanent presidential candidate…then we have the right to ask ourselves if these attitudes and qualities are characteristics of an ideal member of an APC.

    “So, those are the reasons. We did not want to have a lengthy explanation to do but she knows why she was disqualified and we know why we denied her the use of our platform.”

    On the Minister of Communication, he said: “He admitted that he did not do the mandatory NYSC as provided for under the law and in his own judgment, his being a member of the House of Assembly in the state and now as a minister of the federal republic that these were enough sacrifices.

    “But for us as a party we know that NYSC is a mandatory scheme. It is not something you may elect to do or abstain from doing and my understanding of the NYSC Act is that no employer of labour is permitted to employ anyone who graduated under 30 years and who did not obtain an exemption for reasons as provided for in the NYSC Act.

    “So, for us, not participating in the NYSC raises very serious moral issue as well as legal issue. After interviewing him, we were convinced that….for our party, there are clear lessons we need to learn from our recent past when people… anyway, we were convinced that if he did not do NYSC, that for us was enough to disqualify him and we had to find the courage to do so.”

    While commending the people of Osun State for keeping faith with the party, Oshiomhole said: “We have seen over the period that the opposition party has always, whenever it is not winning election raise issues of rigging. But I do understand PDP is quick to suggest rigging in any election in which it is not favored by the electorates.

    “The Osun election was substantially free and fair. The fact that some votes were cancelled suggests that something’s went wrong the first day. But that those cancellations were effected by INEC also showed the independent of INEC to make decisions on the spot based on evidence on ground.

    “Reviewing the opinion of genuine monitors, you realize that the fact that it was inconclusive was accepted by both local observers and foreign observers. PDP disagreed with the idea of conducting elections in those places where the elections were cancelled.

    “There have been rerun elections in the past that favored the PDP. A lot of the governors today elected on the PDP platform especially in the south south are beneficiaries of inconclusive and inspite of our reservations, we had to accept those outcome.

    “In the Osun election, nobody can talk of landslide victory. If anyone had access to manipulate those figures, you will not rig election and do so half-heartedly to a point of leading to inconclusive election.”

  • Oshiomhole: We’ll reward lawmakers who stood by our party

    National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has said that it will be ungodly for the party to deny lawmakers who stood by the party during its trying period return ticket.

    Oshiomhole also said the party will not give its ticket to those he described as political opportunists who are seeking political power for selfish reasons, adding that the party has learnt its lesson the hard way by giving ticket to “bread and butter politicians”

    A statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Simon Ebegbulem quote Oshiomhole as telling members of the party’s screening committee that some of the lawmakers have kept faith with the party despite intimidation’s they have gone through.

    Oshiomhole said the present National Working Committee has been struggling to tackle issues arising from the last congresses of the party which he described as fraudulent, pointing out that the party will correct the mistakes of the past and confront the opposition come 2019.

    He said: “In many of the states we had challenges arising from the way congresses were conducted. Many of them were quite fraudulent and that has been the challenge we have been trying to resolve since we came. Screening of aspirants is not a formality that is why we tried to search for men and women of integrity who cannot be compromised.

    “We do not want to field opportunists who are simply seeking a political vehicle for some selfish purposes. What has happened in recent past is enough for us to begin to look at the character of those who are seeking office on the APC platform.

    “People who have the intellectual capacity to articulate issues on the basis of which laws and bills are considered and those who have capacity to carry out oversight functions to ensure that Nigerians get value for money. And to constructively engage the executive without in the process forgetting that there is only one government.

    “If before now, we have taken for granted the powers of the National Assembly, how those powers can be used for National goals and how it can also be misused to undermine National progress, the current situation we are facing here, where two principal officers have chosen to put their personal interest over and above the national interest.

    “Refusing to consider budget meant for physical infrastructure. Budget meant to re-order the way our budget is executed, to move money away from consumption which recurrent expenditure represents to capital projects which will benefit our people.

    “And even refusing to approve money meant for the body charged with the responsibility of conducting elections in 2019. For us as a party we have chosen to learn from the positive lessons from this development so that we do not repeat those mistakes by selecting people who as far as human capacity is we can assess and predict that if elected they will remain faithful not only to our party but more importantly to the Nigerian nation.

    “If we have disagreement, it will not be about juicy appointment, it will be about appropriate policies, it will be about how governance is impacting positively on the lives of Nigerians. It will not be about who is getting what, politics of sharing”.

    Oshiomhole noted that “as we speak, I am proud that we have 57 senators who have refused to be induced or misled or otherwise manipulated into moving to other parties or reward for juicy positions.

    They have decided to remain in our party even with all the intimidation they have suffered. It will be ungodly for us as a party not to reward those who believe in the party and the government of the day led by President Muhammadu Buhari. We will try as much as we can to have stability in the National Assembly”.

  • Oshiomhole wants Policemen involved in Clark’s residence prosecuted

    National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has called for the prosecution of policemen involved in the raids and search of the Abuja residence of elder statesman, Chief Edwin Clark.

    In a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Simon Egbuebulem, the APC Chairman said that anything short of the prosecution of the affected policemen would be unacceptable.

    Read Also:Raid of Clark’s residence: IG dismisses three Inspectors

    Oshiomhole said “I am shocked to learn about the raid on the Abuja residence of our elder statesman and highly respected South South leader, Chief Edwin Clark by the police, last Tuesday.

    “I am even more baffled and embarrassed that no reason was given for that invasion and from the comments by the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Kpotum-Idris, the raid was not authorized by the police hierarchy.

    “Therefore, the IGP has a responsibility not only to detain the policemen involved but to also ensure they are diligently prosecuted in court. Anything short of that will be unacceptable.

    “The police hierarchy must come clean on this matter, and handle the entire issue transparently, including disclosing the names of the officers involved in this unwarranted attack on the person of Chief Clark.

    “I share the pain and embarrassment Chief Clark was subjected to by the said police officers, particularly as no reason have been given for the action. This is one matter the IGP must never sweep under the carpet.

    “It should be further reiterated that no Nigerian would be allowed to be subjected to such recklessness or impunity on the part of those charged to protect them.”