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Tag: Rochas Okorocha

  • 2019: Rochas didn’t ask son-in-law to defect –Imo APC chair

    A CHAIRMANof the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Imo State, Dan Nwafor, has dismissed reports that the state governor, Rochas Okorocha encouraged his son-in-law and Chief of Staff to the governor, Ogumba Uche Nwosu to defect to the Action Alliance.

    Speaking with newsmen in Abuja, Nwafo said there was no evidence  that the state governor, Rochas Okorocha, asked his son-inlaw and other lawmakers to leave the party and join the Action Alliance, challenging  anyone with such information to make it public.

    He said: “The governor of the state, who is a cofounder of this party in Nigeria, is a senatorial candidate of the party. I am not aware that the governor permitted anybody to go to any party. If you have the proofs, bring them.

    “Uche Nwosu was the foremost governorship aspirant of the party and due to irreconcilable differences, he felt he should pursue his ambition elsewhere. As a state chairman, I am sad. Even though I need all my governorship aspirants to be in the party, I cannot stop him. “If he had decided to choose his political path, I will wish him well. But I will work for my party and my party will win.

    That is where I stand. Everybody planning to run for governorship position in Imo State in one way or the other is close to me. But will I say because I know them before, when they move to one party or the other, I am supposed to know where they are going to? I am the state chairman of the party, I will work for the party and I am committed to the party.

    “Anything that will make my party fail, I should be worried about it. So, whenever persons are leaving the party, I’m concerned. What is my job? What is our job? To see how we can make sure to bring other alternatives that can create tabling window elections.

    “When one person leaves, we are working hard to bring in five, six, seven who would replace them. APC is our party, and we are in the APC. The party is working together. For some people, it takes faster or longer for their wounds to heal. But we are all in the process of healing our wounds. We are working together, we must put our past behind us.

    The focus is that, President Buhari will win and all the candidates of our Party in APC Imo will win, so, we are working with everyone in Imo APC.”

  • Oshiomhole should learn how to talk -Okorocha

    Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha has cautioned the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole to apply caution in the way he speaks, especially about the party leaders.

    The Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr. Sam Onwuemeodo, in response to a statement credited to the National Chairman, said, “we have not read Oshiomhole’s statement but I don’t think any National Chairman of a party can say such a thing. He should be advised on how he speaks. He can’t be attacking the leaders of the party.

    Read Also:Okorocha, Amosun behaving like poor students of history- Oshiomhole

    “Take it from me; a party does not exist in a vacuum. There must be people to run the party. President Muhammadu Buhari has a high pedigree which Nigerians are happy of and Oshiomhole should learn from Mr. President.

    “We have not read it anywhere but we insist that it is not the best way to treat members of the party. Oshiomhole should learn to talk in a way that brings dignity to APC”.

  • Okorocha, Amosun behaving like poor students of history- Oshiomhole

     Says Obasanjo inviting God’s anger

    National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress  (APC),  Comrade Adams Oshiomhole said on Wednesday that the governors of Imo and Ogun State,  Rochas Okorocha and Senator Ibikunle Amosun  were behaving like poor student of their own history who had forgotten  that they lost elections before winning on the platform of the APC.

    Oshiomhole who spoke while receiving APC women leaders from Edo State and the FCT also hit at former President Olusegun Obasanjo saying the former Nigerian leader was inviting the anger of God upon himself by supporting former Vice President Atiku Abubakar for the Presidency after severally saying the God will not forgive him if he supports his former deputy. 

    Oshiomhole was however confident that the APC is stronger now  in IMO and Ogun states  despite grievances of their governors as a result of the outcome of the party primaries where their preferred candidates lost out.

    But supporters of the governor’s have since left the APC for other parties with both governors who are Senatorial candidates of the party promising to work against the party in the governorship elections. 

    Oshiomhole said “The real headline today is that we win in Ogun state and we will deliver Hope Uzodinma in Imo state.  Our popularity in Imo state today are 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 has electoral value and we also have some few electoral liabilities. I can tell that in Imo state today we will 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.”

    Read Also: Imo APC crisis irreconcilable – Okorocha

    Oshiomhole asked former President Olusegun Obasanjo to remember he swore that God should punish him if he ever supports his former vice to become the president.

    “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,” he said.

    He expressed confidence that the 2019 election would be a smooth sail for President Muhammadu Buhari and APC because ethnic and religious sentiments that characterised the 2015 election lost by former president Goodluck Jonathan would have no play this time around.

    “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 (Atiku) is a thief? it was his boss (Obasanjo).

    “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 turned 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, he 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 have 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, 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. So we are now going to look at character. 

    “Who can 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. Because if I you are working me and I say you are thief, God will punish me if I support you, and when you are confused because your supply line has been chopped off, and you enter a new deal and you come back to say I now support you, that God that you call with name that He will punish you if you support this person, that God is about to go to work and He will go to work in February, next year. He will punish him thoroughly and punish the person he is supporting in favour of Nigeria”.

    Turning to the women,  he 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, 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 President Nigeria ever had, so he would not say that he didn’t know what was going on on in goverment. So he was a central player and you know all the issues of corruption in goverment then, especially the allegation that sums of money ranging from N50 million was being share to National Assembly members for the third term, all coming from the system. So we can return to those eras of locust.”

  • Madumere remains impeached, says Okorocha

    Imo State governor,  Rochas Okorocha on Monday said that his embattled Deputy, Eze Madumere remains impeached until the determination of the Appeal against the High Court judgment that nullified his impeachment.

    The Imo governor in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary,  Sam Onwuemeodo,  stated that, “until the appeal is decided, Madumere remains impeached. And recognizing him as the Deputy-Governor of the State with the appeal pending would mean jeopardizing the appeal”.

    Okorocha was reacting to a statement credited to Madumere where he lampooned the governor for not recognising him (Madumere) during a recent event in the state.

    According to the statement,  “we have read a report in the media credited to the Former Deputy Governor of the State, Prince Eze Madumere quoting him to have said that he had appealed to Senator Osita Izunaso to forgive “Governor Rochas Okorocha’s embarrassing attitude during the mother’s funeral rites.

    “According to the report, what Madumere referred to as “the embarrassing attitude” of the governor was his non-recognition by the governor as the Deputy Governor of the State during the governor’s speech at the burial service of the mother of Senator Izunaso last weekend.

    Read also: Imo State move to end Osu caste system

    “As a matter of fact, the failure or inability of the governor to recognize Madumere as the Deputy-Governor of the State at that event was not an oversight. That was the proper thing to do because there is an existing appeal at the Appeal Court against the High Court Judgement that quashed the impeachment of Madumere by the State House of Assembly.

    “So until the appeal is decided, Madumere remains impeached. And recognizing him as the Deputy-Governor of the State with the appeal pending would mean jeopardizing the appeal. He should have known this fact and if he had asked his lawyer, he would have told him that the governor acted rightly in the circumstance”.

    It continued that,  “Madumere declared war against his benefactor or mentor because he wanted to be governor, using the issue of zoning as his bet. Today, Madumere is not the governorship Candidate of any Political Party nor the deputy governorship Candidate. He has no option than to support Hope Uzodinma, the APC Candidate who is from Orlu zone.

    “Those who had encouraged Madumere to fight the man who made him somebody, on the ground that they would make him governor have gone their ways and the Prince is not only on his own, but now staggering, thinking about which leg to put forward first.

    “It is left for the Public to ask Madumere why he is still keen in working with Governor Okorocha as his deputy after he had tried in vain to paint the same man black.

    “To us, Madumere remains impeached as Deputy-Governor until the appeal against the Judgement of the High Court that is in his favour is decided. He has acquired maggot infested firewood and by so doing has invited Agama Lizard to both breakfast, lunch and dinner. He does not have our sympathy again”.

  • Imo APC crisis irreconcilable – Okorocha

    Uzodinma, Nwosu snub APC peace Committee

    Imo state governor, Rochas Okorocha,  Thursday,  gave a damming verdict on the post primary election crisis rocking the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), stating that the situation is irreconcilable.

    Okorocha told the Kano State governor Abdullahi Ganduje led APC Reconciliation Committee that everything has been done to resolve the issues but to no avail, heightening the fears that the party may not come out of the post primary election crisis that has engulfed it before the general election.

    Okorocha in his opening remarks at the meeting held at the Imo International Convention Centre (IICC), said that he honoured the meeting because of his relationship with the Chairman of the Committee (Ganduje) and former governor of Akwa Ibom state, Senator Godswill Akpabio.

    According to him, “there shouldn’t have been crisis in the party because of the affinity of the members, we are like one big family. When we came in 2011 it was a miracle, the who is who in Imo politics were against us but we won that election. We moved from APGA to APC because of the name of President Muhammadu Buhari which is synonymous withintegrity. I am a foundation member of the APC. I suggested the name APC.

    “When we started, we were called names, we were made to look like aliens in our state, this is the only state you have elected office holders that are of the APC extration. Those Oshiomole gave the tickets were not APC members, the worst political injustice in the history of Nogeria happened in Imo”.

    Read Also: Imo 2019: I will support Nwosu in any party- Okorocha

    He added that, “the only reason these people are here is because of Buhari,  not because they have benefitted. The issue we have is with Adams Oshiomole, he stole the mandate of the people and gave it away for reasons best known to him. The people here are concerned because the name of the person on APC ticket is not the candidate of their choice.

    “Let me make bold to say that this not about the people here but across the breadth of the state,  the name you here is Uche Nwosu.  But to me against all the speculations that I am leaving APC is not true, all the State and Local Government Executive is intact. We have done everything to resolve the issue but it appears to have gone beyond repair. The situation at hand has gone beyond what we can manage”.

    Chairman of the Committee, Ganduje,  however said that the first task of the Committee has been achieved as they have gotten the assurances of the Imo governor that he will remain in the party and will work for the reelection of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019, stating that, “he has done it before and he will do it again”.

    Meanwhile the APC governorship candidate, Senator Hope Uzodinma and his faction of the party, snubbed the peace parley.

    Also absent was the former Chief of Staff to the Imo State Governor and the winner of the October 6 governorship election, Uche Nwosu.

    However hundreds of APC faithful loyal to the governor’s camp attended the meeting.

    Tempers rose at the beginning of the meeting when a clip of the Ahmed Gulak Committee meeting with party’s stakeholders when he cancelled the governorship primary before absconding the following morning to Abuja where he announced Uzodinma as the winner of the primary election.

     

  • Imo 2019: I will support Nwosu in any party- Okorocha

    …says aggrieved APC members will support Buhari

     

    Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha Tuesday said that he won’t stop his former Chief of Staff, Uche Nwosu from realizing his governorship ambition in any other political party other than the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    While reiterating that he (Okorocha) remains in APC, the governor however maintained that Nwosu will get his support in any party he chooses to run for the Imo governorship.

    Read Also:Imo APC ticket: I won’t succumb to threat – Nwosu

    He insisted that Nwosu remains his preferred governorship candidate, even though he may not be running under his party, the APC, describing the emergence of the APC governorship candidate, Senator Hope Uzodinma as the “worst imposition in Nigerian political history”.

    But the Imo governor assured reassured that his followers will deliver President Muhammadu Buhari, despite their grievances over the conduct of the (APC).

    According to him, “in the 2019 general election, we are going to vote for candidates and not political parties. I am in the best position to assess the candidates and I know that among all the governorship candidates, Nwosu remains the best. I have told Imolites to check the records of those clamoring to govern the state before voting for them.

    “What we saw in Imo APC was a clear case of injustice and the worst imposition in history. The party members are aggrieved and they will be moving to another party to pursue their ambitions but we are going to form alliance with whichever party they choose to deliver President Buhari”.

    He continued that, “what is happening in Imo APC is interesting and strange, a party known for uprightness, justice and fairness has exemplified by President Muhammadu Buhari, has been dented by the actions of the National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole for whatever reasons he is yet to disclose.

    “I have been trying to manage the situation but I have no moral justification to stop the aggrieved candidates who felt shortchanged from realizing their ambitions in any other party but I have not left APC and does not intend to leave APC. But you must realize that in Imo we don’t play party politics but politics of individuals. People did not join APC because of anybody but because of me”.

    Nwosu when contacted assured that he will mobilize all the aggrieved APC members to work for President Buhari’s victory despite the provocation.

    Though silent on his next line of action towards actualizing his governorship ambition, Nwosu said that he remains the most popular governorship candidate in the state and will emerge the next governor of the state.

    He said, “the actions of the National Chairman will not affect our support for President Muhammadu Buhari. Our support and love for him transcends party affiliation, we are convinced that his reelection will be in the best interest of the Igbo in particular and Nigeria in general”.

  • Imo NYSC decries vandalism of its transformer

    The National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) in Imo has decried the vandalism of its transformer and other equipment at its permanent orientation camp and appealed to government to come to its aid.

    Mr Sunday Aroni, the NYSC State Coordinator, made the appeal on Monday at the official closing ceremony of orientation course for the Batch ‘C’ Stream 1 corps members deployed to the state at the orientation camp in Eziama Obaire in Nkwerre Local Government area.

    He said that the vandalism, which happened early in the year, had cut the camp off from the national grid, making the camp to depend constantly on power generator for light which is cost ineffective.

    Aroni, therefore, appealed to the state government to come to its aid by repairing the transformer or providing a new one so that the NYSC could save some money being used constantly on diesel.

    He expressed appreciation to Gov. Rochas Okorocha for the “fatherly support and assistance we have enjoyed and for all he has done for us in the scheme.”

    Read Also: Be apolitical, Kazaure advises NYSC members

    Aroni commended the camp officials for carrying out their duties creditably and the corps members for keenly and diligently participating in all the activities during the course.

    The state coordinator urged the corps members to put into practice all they learnt during the orientation course, especially on security, communication, Igbo culture and drug abuse and control.

    Gov. Rochas Okorocha, represented by the state Commissioner for Talent and Youth Development and Chairman, NYSC Governing Board, Mr Ifeanyichukwu Onwueyiagba, urged corps members to shun truancy, get rich quick syndrome and take their primary assignment seriously.

    He enjoined them to show love to fellow Nigerian citizens in the course of the assignment and avoid divisive tendencies.

    Okorocha advised them to make positive use of the social media to enhance themselves.

    He enjoined employers of labour not to reject corps members posted to their establishments and assured of his commitment and continuous provision of amenities to the camp.

  • Those fighting Oshiomhole are enemies of Buhari, says lawmaker

    The lawmaker representing Etsako Constituency in the House of Representatives Hon. Johnson Oghuma, has said that those fighting National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, were enemies of President Muhammadu Buhari.

    Honorable Oghuma said some governors are working with the opposition People’s Democratic Party to tear the APC apart ahead of the 2019 general election.

    Oghuma who spoke to newsmen at a press briefing said the wicked plot against Oshiomhole would fail.

    He described as untrue allegations of financial inducement by some aspirants against Comrade Oshiomhole

    Oghuma lampooned Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, for creating crisis in the party over the lost bid to impose his son in-law as his successor.

    He reminded Governor Rochas that there is no sole proprietor of the APC.

    “It is surprising that people called leaders of our party will allow opposition to be manipulating them the same way some of our governors will allow opposition to be remoting them even in the national Assembly to be working against the party that brought them to the house only for them to cross -carpet.

    Read Also: Group condemns Oshiomhole’s harassment

    “It is sad that this same people are propagating fake news and our people are helping them. An organization where everybody is a leader cannot stand the test of time. It is high time we allow our leader elected to lead the party.

    “Everybody cannot be Chairman of the party at the same time. Those elected to run our party should be given free hand to do.  Oshiomhole was elected Governor for eight years and he showed good and purposeful leadership.

    “I am a candidate and it is untrue that Comrade Adams Oshiomhole collected money from anybody. Oshiomhole that I know cannot take bribe. He is a man of integrity. Okorocha and his likes are the problem of our party. He is not the owner of APC, the party belongs to all.

    “Majority of our party members are not complaining. A situation where an individual will convert all political positions in his state to family members is strange and unacceptable to our APC.

    “We will resist any attempt to remove him from office. We challenge Okorocha to tell Nigerians his contribution to the emergence of Buhari in 2015 even as a sitting governor.  As we speak majority of his assembly members have gone to pick ticket in other parties”.

  • Okorocha to Oshiomhole: Prove your integrity

    Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha has called on the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole to uphold the integrity and honesty for which he is known in resolving the controversy surrounding the party’s governorship primary election in the state.

    Oshiomhole had vowed that he will never mortgage his conscience to keep his job.

    But the Imo Governor who noted with dismay that the party is contemplating undemocratic measures in determining the governorship candidate in his State, even after a candidate has been duly elected.

    He enjoined the National Chairman to forward Nwosu’s name as the governorship candidate and jettison sentiments promoted by those that do not mean well for the party.

    Okorocha insisted that Oshiomhole and members of the National Working Committee of the party owe it as an obligation to defend the integrity of the party, which he said distinguishes it from other political parties.

    According to him, Oshiomhole was elected as the National Chairman of the party as a result of his track record of honesty and integrity, which he adduced were and are still his highest selling points.

    In his words, “We elected Oshiomhole because we felt that he is a man of integrity and we are only asking him to uphold that integrity for which we have priced him, he must prove that image which he has cut for himself as Oshiomhole prior to his being elected as the National Chairman, anything short of that will reduce his value completely in this country. He should do the right thing and be simple”.

    The Governor continued that, “I think people are trying to change the narratives, some people are trying to upturn the truth they want to cover the truth by leaving the main to discuss frivolities, the truth remains that a certain Ahmed Gulak with a sinister mission came here and disappeared with result sheet by 4am on the day of proposed election, the NWC of our party disbanded that Committee, despite the fact that eight members of the Committee including the Secretary  stayed back and conducted the election and declared Uche Nwosu winner.

    “Despite the fact that Uche Nwosu won the election, the National Working Committee disbanded that Committee and called for fresh election, this fact is known to everybody and the second election which they came to conduct on October 6, the same Uche Nwosu won. Now how could the man who is supposed to be facing charges of criminal conspiracy turn around and say that the election he disappeared with result sheet is genuine, it makes a mockery of this country.

    Read Also: Oshiomole’s campaign for political revival

    “But one fact remains that President Muhammadu Buhari is known for justice and fairness, that is the image he has and let no one or the party destroy this image which has given us victory and that is why we are here today as APC members. So it is not a question of who is a good or bad loser, the issue is that people are trying to change the narrative to cover the truth, it is diversionary as far as I am concerned.

    “How could you explain it for God’s sake that somebody won in the first election, the results are clear and signed by the members of the Committee, same person won the second election signed by all the members, even when you cancelled the first election and then you have the Police and INEC reports confirming the election and you have a letter from the NWC disbanding that Gulak Committee and you also have a letter from the NWC confirming that Uche Nwosu is the candidate of the party and again you have forms given to him from INEC for his name to be submitted.

    “I don’t understand what is happening but I think this issue of semantics and sentiments being poured cannot cover the truth, the truth is that APC holds it as a point of duty and honour to declare winners of election and anything short of that will not go down well with the people and the history of APC in Nigeria and I beg to disagree with those who try to change the issue from what it is.

    “I mean what can you say to the whole world that Gulak didn’t disappear with result sheets or that election was not cancelled or that Uche Nwosu did not win I don’t just understand what is happening, so people are trying to change the truth but that is not going to work.  APC must remain APC and our party’s NWC holds it as a point of duty to defend the integrity for which APC is known, anything short of that will amount to self-destruction of the party”.

    On the alleged plot against the National Chairman, “I think talking about Oshiomhole’s removal is not an issue, it is not important, we elected Oshiomhole because we felt that he is a man of integrity and we are only asking him to uphold that integrity for which we have priced him, he must that image which he has cut for himself as Oshiomhole prior to his being elected as the National Chairman, anything short of that will reduce his value completely in this country, he should do the right thing and be simple, I mean we are democrats and this is our party, this is APC and the right thing must be done so when people try to change the narrative and to say Governors are bad losers, the governors want to impose people, excuse me, democracy is about the people, if the people have spoken, who are you to change what the people have said.

    “Buhari is a President today because the people spoke and if Buhari can be a President because people spoke, then the party must respect that and allow the voice of the people to prevail in whatever election and avoid sentiments. The campaign they try to put forward is that Uche Nwosu can’t go because he is  Okorocha’s son-in-law and I say to them, has Uche Nwosu gone contrary to any section of the Nigerian constitution, nobody has been able to give an answer to that, nobody has come forward to say that the young man is a criminal or that he is corrupt or does not have capacity.

    “It is not just enough to sit back in Abuja and be talking, they should come to the state to understand the feelings of the people down home, that’s the point am making so my advice to our party, is that our party should sit up and do the right thing and not allow the people get misled.

    “And if you are talking about morals, what is the morality in somebody that joined the party in less than two weeks to be given the number one job by Abuja and not the people, how is he going to win, so I want to advice those behind this to stop forthwith and it is a directive that they should stop forthwith so that this party can enjoy that name that it is known for as a party of justice, equity and fairness if not there is no difference between this party and any other party in Nigeria.

    “Ninety percent of those who have joined APC in the last two months are doing so not because they love APC, they can never go to an election without Federal might and per adventure President Buhari loses this election, the net day they will leave the party, so these set of people are simply called political opportunists who are not with the people but always want to grab victory through the use of gun but I think this has to stop, why should our party promote this and I warn they should stop this”.

    On the likelihood of leaving the party, the Governor noted that, “the option of leaving the party has not come to my mind, APC is my party, in 2011 when this party was called Boko Haram and Islamisation party, where were these people, nobody gave us a chance that APC was going to win the 2015 election, so what makes you think that we are going to leave the party for those that came through the back door and are being given a voice by the National Chairman of our party.

    “All you hear is rumour everywhere that they are backed by the Presidency that Rochas should take one position and leave the other one as if we are sharing groundnut, but I tell them I have met President and he told me he never said to anybody to impose a wrong candidate or to remove the name of anybody and change it with another in whatever guise, I think they want to make Mr. President a liar. So what they are doing is wrong and unacceptable so they should stop”.

  • I won’t mortgage my conscience over APC crisis – Oshiomhole

    The National Chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, on Wednesday said that he would not bow to pressure that will make him act against his conscience over the crisis in the party.

    He made the declaration after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    Speaking with State House corespondents at the end of the meeting, he said that only three APC governors were unhappy with his running of the party while the majority are confident that he is doing his best.

    According to him, he  would rather obey his conscience than succumb to pressures that will make him do what is wrong.

    He said: “Let me say that if there is a choice between my conscience-what I believe is right and mortgaging that conscience in order to keep the job, I will have no difficulty resolving it in favour of my conscience.

    “And those who know me know that at my age I cannot learn new tricks. I am absolutely committed to justice, fairness, I am 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.”

    The problem he has with the aggrieved governors, he said, is a family matters which he is confident will be resolved.

    He added “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 traumatizing.

    “These are internal family issues; they are my friends, and that is important , even in moment of distress, that friendship is 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 who 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 this 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 has been the  Chairman of NGF and I was an active member of that forum; we have wonderful time together and I believe in the future, we are still going to have wonderful time together; Rochas Okorocha was one of those who had issues with my predecessor and I did my best to try and resolve those issues in a way that has been given him a new platform.

    “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 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.

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    “I believe three governors are not particularly pleased with the outcome of the primaries in their states and you cannot grudge anyone for not being happy if a particular outcome does not coincide with his expectations.

    “I don’t  have power to appoint and I don’t have power to change particularly when things have been properly done.

    “Now if this makes one, two or three people unhappy, it is unfortunate but they are my friends. If things are to be reduced to who is my friend, who I can do favour to, obviously having been a governor for eight years, I have more friends and more governors than any other group within the party whether these are Senators, House of Reps members or other aspirants within the party.

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

    “So, all I have tired 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.” he said

    He 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 didn’t win.