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  • Obasanjo inviting God’s anger, says Oshiomhole

    FORMER President Olusegun Obasanjo is “inviting God’s anger”, All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman Adams Oshiomhole said yesterday.

    The APC chair attacked the former president for backing his former deputy, Atiku Abubakar, for president after telling the world that God will not forgive him if he did that.

    Obasanjo reversed himself  after Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese Matthew Hassan Kukah and other clerics reconciled the leaders.

    Oshiomhole, who spoke while receiving APC women leaders from Edo State and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), lashed out at the former President, saying he was inviting God’s anger by backing Atiku.

    The APC chief faulted also the decision of Governors Rochas Okorocha (Imo) and Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun) for encouraging their supporters to pursue their political ambitions in other parties after losing out in the APC primaries.

    Both governors have promised to support President Muhammadu Buhari’s re-election bid but that they would stop at nothing to ensure the victories of their choice candidates in other parties.

    Okorocha’s supporters have defected to the Action Alliance (AA). Amosun’s have joined the Allied Peoples Movement (APM).

    Oshiomhole said yesterday that both governors were behaving like poor students of their own history, adding that Okorocha and Amosun had forgotten they lost elections before winning on the APC platform.

    Oshiomhole was, however, confident that the APC remains stronger in Imo and Ogun states, despite the grievances of their governors as a result of the outcome of the party’s primaries where their preferred candidates lost.

    He said: “The real headline today is that we will win in Ogun State and we will deliver Hope Uzodinma in Imo State.  Our popularity in Imo today is increasing. What we don’t know and Nigerians always make this mistake that once you are a governor, you have electoral value.

    “Yes, we have overwhelming majority of APC governors who have electoral values and we also have some few electoral liabilities. I can tell that in Imo State today we will have more votes.

    “Politics is about numbers and I am looking at the average Imo voters because on that the governor will have one vote and his son-in-law will also have one vote. Those market women, artisans, mechanics and farmers will also have their vote.

    “Those who think our political future is tied to them; they are poor students of their own political history. Some of these people who talk as if they are invincible, they have forgotten that they have run elections in the past and lost until they abandoned their parties and joined us. So if they return back, history will repeat itself.

    “In Imo State today, APC will win more votes. My focus is on ordinary Imo voters because on that day, the governor would have only one vote, his son-in-law would have only one vote while his Commissioner for Happiness would have only one vote.

    “But artisans, traders, teachers and workers whose salaries are not being paid have the same weight of vote and they are excited about the renewed possibility of a new government coming with fresh ideas free of all the encumbrances of the present system. So, in Imo I’m very confident.

    “Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is from Ogun State. The state is one of the most enlightened states in Nigeria. They have a huge history; they are not in a political kingdom headed by one person.

    “If they were looking for true reconciliation, they wouldn’t have done what they did (defection of aides). That is not how democracy works. Nigeria must grow beyond this syndrome –  ‘I’m the governor, I will decide.’ You have only one vote. With due respect, I was once a governor. Overall, APC is much stronger now.”

    On Obasanjo’s decision to back Atiku, Oshiohmole said  the former president should remember he swore that God should punish him if he ever support his former vice to become the president.

    He said: “We know there are people across the divide who are fighting back. There is a gang up by those who are used to sucking the system without adding any value but Nigerians will not allow that.”

    According to him, next year’s elections will be a smooth sail for President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC because the ethnic and religious sentiments that characterised the 2015 election lost by former President Goodluck Jonathan had become irrelevant.

    He said: “The two candidates are from the North and they are both Muslims. People are now going to look at character. Nobody has ever said Buhari is a thief. But who said the other person is a thief? It was his boss.

    “When you are working with me and I said you are a thief, God will punish me if I support you. And when you are confused because your supply line has been chopped off, you now turn around to support the same person.

    “That God that you called with your name to punish you if you support the person is about to go to work. And He will go to work in February and He will punish him thoroughly and the person he is supporting, in favour of Nigeria.”

    Speaking further on Buhari’s chances in 2019, Oshiomhole said: “My hope is that Buhari will win. He will have more votes than he got before because some of those who misused religion; for that was the most potent weapon that was used very recklessly, by people who had no issues in 2015.

    “This time around, they will have to speak to the issues because the two main candidates are Muslims. Again, the issue of North-South; Buhari maintained the key support in the North and that was because people voted on the basis of son of the soil. This time, the two main candidates are from the North so these things will not be there. We are now going to look at character.

    “Who can’t say Buhari is a thief; nobody has ever said so. But who said the other person is a thief? it is the person he was working with.”

    Turning to the women, Oshiomhole said: “Yes, the women are going to play a key role in the elections, they are going to compare notes. Those of them who were about 20 year’s old in 1999, by the time they were 36 years, they know all that has happened.

    “They won’t forget that the PDP promised that in six months they will provide stable power, in 16 years, they did not. They will not forget that PDP spent $16 billion; they will not forget that PDP spent so much money on rail and workers will not forget that under the PDP industries have been shut down.

    “Some people recently said that Atiku was one of the most powerful Vice Presidents Nigeria ever had, so he would not say that he didn’t know what was going on in government. So, he was a central player and you know all the issues of corruption in government then, especially the allegation that sums of money ranging from N50 million were being shared to National Assembly members for the third term, all coming from the system. So we can return to those eras of locusts.”

  • Oshiomhole: Obasanjo planning to rule by proxy

    ANY attempt by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to return to power by proxy will be resisted, All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole said yesterday.

    He dismissed as “empty” the former leader’s boast that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will unseat the APC-led administration from Aso Rock.

    Oshiomhole spoke in Kano where he led other APC stalwarts to receive hundreds of members of the PDP and the Kwankwasiyya Movement, who defected into the ruling party at the Sani Abacha Stadium.

    ”Obasanjo’s dream to rule Nigeria by proxy will not succeed,” Oshiomhole told the crowd of supporters.

    He said: “It is a wonderful day that all the progressives have come together to reinforce power to sustain our democracy. Never again should this country be governed by opportunists.

    “President Muhammadu Buhari’s constituency is the army of the poor. We are building a country where those who work will be able to eat, not those who use telephones to make billions without working for it.

    “We are waiting for the message and shall respond appropriately to their message. This country must move forward. It does not belong to those who have a history of taking so much out of the system even as they cannot show what they have put into the system.

    “We have to fix all the problems; we did not come in to fix them overnight. What they did not do in 16 years cannot possibly be fixed in three and half years. But I believe we have shown the most important quality that we need in a leader – to have a man of honour, a man of integrity, a man that you can trust; and that is President Muhammadu Buhari.

    “Whether in America, they appreciate him, in Britain, they appreciate him, and other Africa Heads of State appreciate him. And, of course, we the ordinary people appreciate him. But those who make money without work, they don’t like him. As far as they are concerned, he will not stay one day long.”

    Oshiomhole replied to criticism by the PDP of the electoral process. He said: “Let me also use this opportunity to appeal to our opponents in PDP that they seem to be crying before the election takes place. When they win, everything is perfect; any time they lose, nothing is right. I see them writing a letter to the United Nations (UN) and I’m asking who is going to carry the letter.

    “Nigerians will not forget that it was PDP under President Olusegun Obasanjo who introduced what he called do-or-die politics. They remember when he said the election of 2007 was a do-or-die for him.

    “Fortunately, we did not die; fortunately, he is still alive. He would be alive to see a country that grows from strength to strength, that is detained by the bitterness of the past.

    “But his (Obasanjo) dream to rule by proxy will never succeed. Nigerians can never go back. We must move on. In another mandate for President Buhari, we will witness sustainable growth, development and happiness for the good of the average Nigerian.”

    The party chief praised Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje for his steadfastness in sustaining the manifesto of the APC, saying: “Thank you so much, Your Excellency. You have made a statement. Politics is not about social media where one man can recruit 2000 young men to just be posting fake stories.

    “Politics is on the ground and it is played by real people. When you promised to deliver five million votes I know you will do so because people of Kano State belongs to President Buhari; and President Muhammadu Buhari belongs to the people of Kano State.

    “It will interest you to know that during the primary election, President Buhari had 14.6 million Nigerian APC members voting for him freely to nominate him. Compare this to what my dear friend (Goodluck Jonathan) did in PDP in 2014 when they collected signatories to ask a sitting President to re-contest.

    ”I think we have changed the game, and the game can never be the same again. Nigeria can now grow from strength to strength. I want to ask you (Ganduje) to have faith. We shall be victorious at the end.”

    Presenting the defectors to Oshiomhole, Ganduje said: “Today, APC is the greatest party in Nigeria, and in Africa. APC is the only party in Kano State. We have the highest number of party members; our intention is to provide the highest number of votes for APC in Nigeria.

    “If you can recall, we promised President Muhammadu Buhari that we will give him over five million votes. Mr. Chairman, we assure you that APC is united in Kano. Kano is the home of progressives.

    “The late Malam Aminu Kano was a progressive, the late Sabo Barkin Zuwo was a progressive, and the late Abubakar Rimi was a progressive. Now, what do you expect in Kano – if not a progressive government, a progressive administration, a progressive voting. That is why we are ready to give President Buhari over five million votes.”

    Speaking on behalf of the defectors, two-time governor Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau said: “Today is a moment to reckon with history. On behalf of all my supporters, well-wishers far and near who have joined us to move into APC, it is a great pleasure for us to be part of APC.

    “I have this great honour to be one of the mid-wives of APC, history is repeating itself. In 2014, we stepped aside, and today, we are coming back to APC. I want to thank the national chairman and Governor Ganduje who have embraced us today.

    “We are happy to be part of APC. It is our sincere prayer that God, in His wisdom, come 2019 will grant APC victory from Presidency, governor, senator, House of Representatives and State House of Assembly. Insha Allah, it is going to be a total success.”

  • My integrity big challenge to the PDP, says Oshiomhole

    ALL Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman Adams Oshiomhole said yesterday that recent attacks on his person were aimed at undermining his integrity.

    He said his integrity was a major challenge to the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

    Oshiomhole spoke while inaugurating six committee to work as National Peace and Reconciliation Committee to reconcile the party’s aggrieved members across the six geopolitical zones.

    The party’s national chairman said the only integrity the PDP were bringing on board was the integrity of sharing the nation’s resources.

    Three governors, who are having a running battle with Oshiomhole -Rochas Okorocha (Imo); Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun) and Abdulaziz Yari (Zamfara) – are the only governors, who are not in any of the committees.

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

    Oshiomhole explained that the party has a responsibility to placate its members, who are aggrieved.

    He stressed that party had so much challenge as a result of the growing confidence of the Nigerian people in it.

    The APC Chairman 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 per cent 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.

    “The house (party) is bigger than it was four years ago because those who initially had reservations have since realised that the president meant business and the APC was delivering on the promises that we made.”

    On behalf of other members of the committee, Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima, who heads the Southwest committee, assured the party leadership that the committee would work hard to reconcile 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.”

  • APC members threatened in PDP states, says Oshiomhole

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has raised the alarm over threats to the lives of its members in states controlled by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

    National Chairman Adams Oshiomhole accused the police in those states of aiding such actions.

    Oshiomhole, who spoke with reporters at the end of a meeting of the National Working Committee (NWC), said six committees to visit the six geopolitical zones had been set up with a view to resolving some of the crisis in those states.

    Oshiomhole said the APC chairman in Enugu State narrowly escaped an assassination, his police orderly was hospitalised and one of the leaders of the party kidnapped in Rivers state was found dead, saying “this is very disturbing to us”.

    He accused the Akwa Ibom state police Commissioner of colluding with the governor to eject six members of the APC from the House of Assembly  against the rule of law.

    Oshiomhole said: “The other issue is a very disturbing issue from a couple of states where the PDP is using state instruments even though they are the loudest to talk about the police. They are using the police as they like to undermine the basic fundamental rights of members of the APC in their states.

    “A typical example is what happened today in Akwa Ibom state where the commissioner of police colluded with the governor to forcibly eject APC members from the House of Assembly.

    “The Commissioner went beyond his bound of duty to aid and abate what is clearly wrong. It is not the business of the police to assist political authority to impose their own biases with regard to the composition of the house.  We have a judicial as well as law and order and the police are to obey court order and not to go beyond that. We are also witnessing some very sad developments.

    “As we approach the election,  we should talk on issues and people should market themselves and tell us why we should vote them particularly when there are no new players on parade.

    “You said you will create 10 million jobs. You should tell us what happened when you were in government that textile factories closed down and we lost a number of industries.  These are the issues we want to engage and it will be an interesting season for the media.”

    Oshiomhole added: “We are even happy that given the size of our party, we have issues in a few places,  much of which have already been resolved. Compare that what is happening in a small party like the SDP who are in court over who is the appropriate Presidential candidate or compare that to PDP who have about two governorship candidates in some states. I believe we are still ahead in terms of internal peace.

    “We reviewed the recent elections and we are proud to say that since the NWC was elected in June,  we have not lost any major election.  We have done rerun elections twice in Katsina and  Bauchi and won. Even more outstanding for me and the APC is the humiliating defeat that Senator Bukola Saraki suffered in the hands of Kwara people who are determined to dismantle his failed attempt to install his own variance of a political culture in which he is the only constant decimal.

    “Consider that he is the proclaimed leader of PDP and he has had to lead election in another state, here is a native doctor who was unable to heal his own people. For us, that defeat in Kwara was very key, particularly through a candidate that was put in place not by anybody close to Saraki and he won.

    “I have said that society is held together by peace and progress in a democracy “jot only through the rule of law, but also through strong ethical commitments and strong nomadic values. Of course,  complete adherence to core values and principles of democracy preaches that majority rule.

    “So, we are not going to accept a Nigeria variance where a minority party presides over the affairs of the National Assembly whether represented by Saraki or Yakubu Dogara.  They just must vacate their seats because it is not right.

    “For me, this was simple an issue of principle and he went on to say that I have no moral right to talk about morality and that I should resign from politics.  What the people of Kwara have done is that they will not give him the opportunity of resigning.

    “They are going to politically bury him and he has seen the first warning signals. By February next year, Senator Saraki will be politically retired by the good people of Kwara state. He has mismanaged their political life, economy and society over the past years. We think this is something worth celebrating.”

  • Asking Oshiomhole to resign is ridiculous, Razak tells Saraki

    A chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State, Alhaji Lanre Razak, has condemned the recent call by Senate President Bukola Saraki on the National Chairman of the party, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, to resign his position on moral ground over bribery allegations.

    Razak described the call as ridiculous.

    He said Saraki lacks the moral right to call for Oshiomhole’s resignation since he had ignored repeated calls on him by well-meaning Nigerians to step aside during his travails, including corruption trials at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), alleged link to the Offa bank robbery which resulted in the death of over 32 innocent Nigerians and after dumping the ruling APC for the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    The former Commissioner for Public Transportation in Lagos State and the Balogun General of Epe, cited the late passage of thisn year’s budget by the Senate and the House of Representatives in June as one example of the lawmakers not rising up to the national interest to contribute their quota to good governance in the country.

    Taking a swipe at the Senate President in a statement yesterday in Lagos, Razak described Saraki’s call as “very disappointing and unexpected from the Number Three citizen whose tenure in the Red Chamber has been enmeshed in several controversies”.

    He added: “It is particularly laughable and contradictory because this is a man who many Nigerians have called upon to step aside from office to face his trial at the CCT.

  • 2019: Our campaign will focus on candidates’ integrity —Oshiomhole

    President Muhammadu Buhari and the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, yesterday met behind closed doors at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    Speaking with State House correspondents after the meeting, Oshiomhole said that the APC was fully ready to flag off the campaigns soon.

    According to him, the party’s campaign for the 2019 presidential election will focus on character and integrity of the key candidates.

    He said, “We are fully ready. We have done our primaries and filled our nominations.

    “As you know, INEC still has a window between now and First of January to deal with issues of substitution.

    “As of campaigns, we are ready.

    “We are going to announce the date and programme for our campaigns, and speak on the issues.

    “My idea of kick-off will be the day we will do our first presidential rally where Mr. President, as our candidate, and other candidates and party leaders will assemble in a venue that will be agreeable to all of us.

    “There will be two sets of messages; one on what we have done in the past, without failing to remind people of where we were before, what we are going to do in the next three years, and a couple of things we believe we will be doing differently.

    “Why we are a better choice? President Buhari, if compared to the rest of the aspirants, there is no basis to compare day and night.

    “The real issue in this election is not going to be religion. It is not going to be about political party. Central to the issue and given our past experience as a country, we know that what makes a difference is the character, the integrity of the candidates.

    “All those issues of character, especially looking at the past, the key candidates in the election are not strangers to governance. They are not even strangers to this villa. So, we will be able to ask a couple of questions about what they know now that they didn’t know then when they had power.

    “This edition is going to be focusing on character, integrity of those who want to govern us. In addition to what and how they will do things differently.”

    Oshiomhole also dismissed the allegations of corruption levelled against him by Senator Shehu Sani.

    Sani had accused him of collecting bribe up to $2 million to manipulate the senatorial primaries of Kaduna Central zone.

    On the crisis facing the Imo APC governorship candidate, Senator Hope Uzodimma, he said there was no crisis.

    He said: “What is the crisis? That somebody won and somebody lost and the person who lost said no, no, no, I am the son-in-law to the governor, I can’t lose, and therefore we have crisis?

    “Go to Imo and find out. Go to the markets, mechanic workshops or even the civil servants in Imo and ask how they think on the issue of son-in-law.

    “Look at the crowd that received Senator Hope Uzodimma. It was a mixture of both rejection of dynasty vis a vis the natural support base that Hope has.

    “Haven’t you seen on social media how excited Imolites erected the statue of Oshiomhole, although the body is big.”

  • Oshiomhole surrounded by enemies

    Former Edo State governor and national chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, must by now have realised that he is surrounded by enemies. And those enemies are united and determined. Until his invitation and interrogation by the Department of State Service (DSS), the APC chairman had in fact thought that only a few governors, chiefly Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun), Rochas Okorocha (Imo) and Abdulaziz Yari (Zamfara), were determined to unhorse him for reasons related to the last governorship primaries. Sentry was told authoritatively last week that, alas, Yahaya Bello, the Kogi State governor, was also bent on decapitating him. Worse, the DSS, which is adamant about regime protection, was equally eager to choke him out of office.

    Mr Oshiomhole’s friends who spoke to Sentry cannot say who inspired whom between the DSS and the scheming governors, but they know that the conspiracy against the APC chairman is massive, unrelenting and not lacking in stamina. The conspirators, the chairman’s friends were told, were bonded together by a vow to do him in. Even though Mr Oshiomhole is in denial about the nature of the DSS invitation, and prefers to call the interrogation a chat, his friends say it was nonetheless an interrogation, an invasive and intrusive one, as viciously detached as any a secret service is adept at conducting. A source told Sentry that the taciturn APC chairman was shocked when asked why he was knowingly losing the president five million votes in the Southeast, a charge that had been loosely and carelessly originated by Mr Okorocha weeks earlier. The APC chairman was said to have acquitted himself well, deploying pvc cards statistics and voter registration details adroitly, and ending his response quite admirably by asking the secret service to go and ask Mr Okorocha how he arrived at the five million figure.

    If the APC chairman was flabbergasted by the involvement and questions of the DSS, sources say he was even more bewildered by the role played by Kogi’s Mr Bello who was at the same hour said to be hosting the APC national secretary in his Abuja house in readiness for news from the secret service that Mr Oshiomhole had resigned, and in preparation for the party to issue a statement. The coup failed because neither the DSS nor the conspirators took the APC chairman’s resilience into account. In any case, a source told Sentry, Mr Oshiomhole was overheard saying even if he would resign, it was inappropriate to do it before the DSS who were not his employers.

    There will still be room, of course, for one or two more plots against Mr Oshiomhole before the next elections. The party and those pulling the strings behind the door will, however, calculate whether the cost of overthrowing their chairman so close to the polls is worth the prize of kicking the cocky Mr Oshiomhole into the catacombs.

  • APC chieftain faces Oshiomhole

    A Former national chairmanship aspirant of the All Progressive Congress (APC)  and a chieftain of the party in Edo State, Chief Ibrahim Emokpaire has thrown his weight  behind the party’s National Chairman, Comrade Aliyu Adams Oshiomhole on the ongoing crisis with some members.

    According to a statement Emokpaire said, Oshiomhole deserves the support of all and enjoined all members to support him.

    “We all unanimously elected him as the party leader on June 23rd, 2018,” he said.

    Emokpaire said: “We can see the handiwork of the agent of tenure elongation at play, the same advocates of tenure elongation are mostly behind the removal of the party National Chairman”.

    He said the election primaries crises were created by those who believe in tenure elongation. “ We should not heap the blame on Comrade Oshiomhole, he has given our great party, the APC a strong and unwavering leadership; upholding internal democracy since assumption on duty as the National Party Chairman.”

    Emokpaire advised that party members should not allow those being sponsored by the opposition to whittle down the authority and strong leadership direction of the party chairman.  “Our party, the APC has achieved enormous feat since we came into the government. The President Muhammadu Buhari  administration has demonstrated to Nigerians that good governance is possible.”

  • Oshiomhole, Saraki clash over bribery allegation

    All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman Adams Oshiomhole and Senate President Bukola Saraki are locked in a big row over bribery allegations arising from the APC primaries.

    Saraki, a former member of the APC, has defected to the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He said: “Nigerians are waiting to see how the President will handle the serious allegations against his party chairman. We expect the President with his anti-corruption campaign to institute thorough and transparent investigation into the allegations against his party chairman.

    ”The failure of the President to get to the root of the matter will finally destroy his ability and that of the party to continue to talk of any anti-graft battle. The President should let the investigation be thorough, open and transparent. This is no time for any cover-up,” Saraki said in a statement by Yusuph Olaniyonu.

    A Presidency source said yesterday that no compliant had been received against Oshiomhole.

    The party chairman, who has been battling some governors seeking tickets for their favourites, challenged the Senate president to give proof of his corruption allegations or face a law suit.

    A statement by Oshiomhole’s Media Adviser Simon Egbebulem said: “Whereas, the basis on which he made those comments was tenuous and unjustifiable, it is on record that Saraki has been in the eye of investigations by the EFCC and the ICPC for sundry cases of corruption. That is the same man that has taken it upon himself to question Comrade Oshiomhole’s credibility.

    “We challenge him to mention one person who has claimed that he gave money to Oshiomhole to influence him and the decision of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) in the just-concluded primary elections.

    “We insist that Saraki with his kind of prebendal politics is nothing but a monumental disgrace to the nation’s democracy.”

    Saraki kicked off the outbursts when he told reporters in Ilorin after the prayers to mark the sixth anniversary of his father’s death that Oshiomhole should quit politics because he lacked the moral right to continue to lead the APC following the allegations levelled against him.

    He said: “Oshiomole is somebody, who we are told  been collecting not even naira but dollars from candidates and he is being accused by his party’s aspirants and governors. I don’t think he has any moral ground, even to continue to be in politics not to talk about being a chairman of a party.

    ”I remember in those days, even Oyegun, they never accused him of something like this. I have left that party. I’m sure the President, based on integrity, knows the right thing to do. So, on moral ground, he cannot speak on moral ground.”

    Saying Saraki should name any member of the APC who offered him bribe either in foreign or local currency to influence him and members of the National Working Committee to take a decision in his favour before, during and after the party primaries or face legal action, Oshiomhole described as pathetic and irresponsible the resort to what he called petty politics by the Senate President who he described as a usurper of and pretender to the position he occupies.

    He said Saraki, who has been in the eyes of  investigation by the EFCC AND ICPC, has no moral ground to call for his resignation.

    The statement added: “It is sad that Saraki, who just woke up from slumber occasioned by his crushing defeat at the Port Harcourt presidential primary election of his party, could degenerate to such a low level.

    “It is equally sad, but not unexpected, that Saraki, who is politically drowning, would make such  libelous comments against the national chairman of the APC. And I challenge Saraki to mention one name of an aspirant that gave money to the National Chairman or we file a legal action against him.”

    Alluding to a rash of libellous reports by disgruntled persons aimed at maligning Oshiomhole’s hard-earned reputation.

    “The primary elections of the APC, which were at the root of these malicious attacks, have come and gone, but it is understandable that those who lost out in the transparent exercise conducted by the party under the leadership of Comrade Oshiomhole have been exercising their rights to protest.

    “It is curious to note that some elements in the top hierarchy of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) appeared to be too eager to see the exit of the APC Chairman from office and may be working in tandem with certain APC members. While it makes sense for PDP to wish for cure for their headache that Comrade Oshiomole has become, it should not be taken for granted that anyone can get away with any action that is capable of tarnishing the unassailable integrity of the APC Chairman.

    “We are aware that part of the strategies discussed in Dubai, where the PDP leaders recently visited and held their meeting, was to continue to dish out lies against top APC leaders with a view to distract the leadership of the APC ahead the 2019 general election. But they have failed because the National Chairman and APC leaders are focused and will never be distracted.

    “However, It is time these irresponsible lies stopped; otherwise, anybody who continues to make unsubstantiated allegations against the person and character of the National Chairman should be ready to provide proofs in a court of law. It cannot be just a political game to smear the character of Comrade Oshiomole by people whose track record is unenviable.

    “We want the public to note that if the exercise of the APC primaries were to be about money-taking or money-making, the state governors, some of whom are embittered about the outcomes in their states, were in a better position to dish out mega bucks. But the National Working Committee of APC under the leadership of Comrade Oshiomole was motivated by higher ideals and the pursuit of noble democratic principles.

    “It is sad that instead of commending the National Chairman for resisting criminal overtures to compromise him, he is being relentlessly harangued, abused and accused of receiving phantom bribes.  This is a callous and wicked enterprise. The National Chairman’s credibility is unassailable. His reputation as president of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) is a matter of fact.

    “Significantly, as NLC president, he fought the PDP-controlled Federal Government in furtherance of pro-people policies without collecting money to compromise the struggles. He rode on the crest of his credibility and reputation to step in the saddle in Edo State as governor for eight years where he turned around the fortune of the State.

    ”Indeed, owing to his performance in Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole was able to get the people’s support to ensure victory for APC governor as his successor.

    “The National Chairman views the current attempts to tarnish his image as uncalled for and has vowed that he will seek legal redress against anybody or media, whether the traditional or in the social media, who makes such unsubstantiated allegations henceforth.

    “Enough is enough. We urge our respected media outfits to exercise caution not to be used by unscrupulous elements. Except such persons or media house can provide evidence.”

  • Nigeria can pay living wage, says Oshiomhole

    National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Comrade Adams Oshiomhole  said yesterday that Nigeria can afford living wage for workers.

    He said non payment of salaries by governors creates a viscious circle leading to low production and eventual loss of jobs.

    Oshiomhole said as a governor, he told his colleagues that payment of salaries was  no burden, but a means of enhancing the development potential of the state, adding that the country’s major problem is stealing of public resources in the name or salary payment.

    The former Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) president spoke on a television programme.

    He said: “My views are clear, that payment of wages is not an act of kindness for an employer to pay the employees’ wages at the end of the month… Even the Holy Bible says that the laborer is entitled to its wages.

    “I think, again, this is where President Buhari stands out clearly. He has publicly asked public sector employers; how do you sleep when you have not paid your employers for one year. But he did not stop at lamenting it, he went on to provide the much- talked about bailout fund and said, ‘please use this money to pay your workers and pay pension arears.

    “And even the deductions from states that was done under the PDP in the name of settling our foreign debts, they went into state treasury and they over deducted; that was done under the PDP. But under President Muhammadu Buhari’s government, even inspite of the huge financial challenges that he faces, decided that in order to assist the states to meet up with their social obligations, to begin to pay what is now referred to as Paris Club refund.

    “He has done that two, three instalments and each time the governors are told that you must use this money, among other things to settle pension arrears and be up to date in the payment of salaries.

    “But I am very proud that this President has rich conscience, he recognises that the Nigerian worker deserves his wages and that is why he has publicly lamented that there are governors who have not paid salaries as at when due, whether they are PDP or APC, it is immaterial. And in seeking to deal with it he has also provided support across party divide and I think that is statesmanship at its best.

    “As for my views on the minimum wage, I tried to deal with it as a governor. I told my colleagues then that wage is not a burden in the society. In economics, when people work and get paid, purchasing power is enhanced and because purchasing power is enhanced producers will respond to that by seeking to produce more goods and services. And in the process they will recruit more hands.

    “. My being in government or now chairman of a party cannot change what I believe in.

    “The real problem in the public sector is money being stolen in the name of salaries, I find it embarrassing when we talk about ghost workers. And I ask the question, who counts ghosts. It is only in Nigeria that ghosts are known.”