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Tag: Oshiomhole

  • 2019: I’m not losing sleep over R-APC, others – Oshiomhole

    2019: I’m not losing sleep over R-APC, others – Oshiomhole

    The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Adams Oshiomhole, on Monday, insisted that he is not losing sleep over the Reformed-APC faction.

    He told State House Correspondents who asked if he was indeed losing sleep, after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, That, “You have seen me, do I look like I’m losing sleep?”

    Oshiomhole had said he could not lose sleep over the breakaway faction of the APC.

    Reacting to the comment, Kola Ologbondiyan, PDP spokesman, said Oshiomhole dismissed R-APC yet went ahead to pay a nocturnal visit to Buba Galadima, its chairman, “in what appeared a fence-mending gesture”.

    Details later…

  • Osun governorship election will be walk-over for APC – Oshiomhole

    The National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, has described the forthcoming Osun State governorship election as a walk-over for the party, saying it is confident to emerge victorious.

    Oshiohmole told State House correspondents after a closed door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential villa, Abuja, on Friday, that APC had no political challenges in Osun as the state governor, Rauf Aregbesola, was at home with the people.

    According to him, Gov. Aregbesola is a mobiliser, an organiser and an astute politician, capable of winning elections for the party in the state.

    He explained that the party had resolved to adopt direct primaries to elect candidates for the Sept. 22 governorship election in Osun.

    He added that “as for Osun State, we are even much more confident because we have a governor who is at home with his people, a mobiliser, an organiser and an astute politician.

    “We have also decided that in order to give people a more sense of ownership in the electoral process, we will use direct primaries, which means that every card-carrying member of APC will participate in choosing who should fly the party’s flag.

    “The method will give more people a sense of ownership and a sense of commitment to the candidate that they have all chosen.

    “It will also return the party to the grassroots so it can have new sense of renewed ownership, renewed sense of participation and inclusion by itself and a value that will make the actual election easier.

    “So, we are confident that the great people of Osun State will vote for our party because the candidate that will emerge will be the candidate chosen by the party members and not the party oligarchy. That makes a lot of difference.”

    On reported threat of mass defection from the APC, Oshiohmole dismissed the reports, saying it was the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that suffered from mass defection.

    He said: “I think it is something you should ask the PDP. They are the ones who suffered huge, huge mass defection even of the so called founding fathers.

    “I mean, in those good old days, people like Professor Jerry Gana will tell us, we are the founding fathers.

    “People like President Obasanjo will tell us, you know I was the first President. All of these people are gone.

    “I think the media need to get more engage and scrutinise us, those of us who are political players. When we speak from both sides of the mouth or we are turning the story upside down.

    Just few months back, you know that a good section after their convention, people like Oyederan, Prof. Jerry Gana and a host of others who can be said to founding fathers of that party, they left to form what they call SDP or ADC or both.

    “So, they broke out and then when it dawn on them that even together we defeated them just four years ago, and now further factionalised, what can they do.’’

    He said that members of the opposition were only interested in power not the welfare of Nigerians.

    According to him, the PDP just want to capture power for the sake of power.

    “So they say, even though we have already broken the house, can we for the sake of power come together. Does it make sense?

    “In the morning, you broke away from PDP to SDP and then to ADC.

    “And there is no better proof than that old man who is going round as an organising secretary recruiting people, looking for tired players to continue with a third term agenda which Nigerians have rejected.

    “By whatever form they come in, Nigerians have spoken. They are not going to return to the era where central bank and NNPC security money is shared to people based on PDP philosophy ‘share the money’. We won’t do that, if they have forgotten.

    “It is quite easy for robbers to forget easily the robbery they just did but it is not easy for the victim of the robbery to forget,’’ he said to further buttress his point.

    On the conduct of APC congresses in Imo as directed by the court and the subsequent court injunction, Oshiohmole said he was not aware of any court injunction against the conduct of fresh congresses in the state.

    He said: “There is no stay of execution. A stay of execution is not something that is secret. If anybody has one, he should show it to you.’’

  • 2019: Obasanjo hiring tired players for to finish ‘third term’ agenda – Oshiomhole

    The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, on Friday made a veiled reference to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who he said had suddenly become an “organising secretary” busy hiring “tired players” to continue with his third term agenda.

    He, however, said Nigerians had already rejected the former President because they were not ready to return to the era of the Peoples Democratic Party, during which government’s funds were shared to party faithful.

    This, he said, was the reason the coalition being formed by the PDP and other political parties ahead of the 2019 general elections would fail.

    Oshiomhole said this in an interview with State House correspondents shortly after a meeting he had with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    He said contrary to opinions, it was the PDP that was being affected daily by mass defection, and not the APC.

    He said if the ruling party could win the 2019 presidential election when the PDP was still united, it would not be difficult to win again as the opposition party had split, saying the party’s founding fathers like Prof. Jerry Gana had since left it to form another party.

    The former Edo State governor said it was funny that the same people who left the PDP to form other parties were coming together to form a coalition.

    Oshiomhole said, “Just few months back, you know that after their convention, a good number of people like Prof. Tunde Adeniran and Prof. Jerry Gana, who are said to be founding fathers of the party, left to form what is called the Social Democratic Party.

    “So, they broke out and when it dawned on them that even together we defeated them just four years ago. Now that they are further factionalised, what can they do?

    “They just want to capture power for the sake of power. And they said ‘Okay, even though we have already broken the house into pieces, for the purpose of capturing power, let us come together.’ Does it make sense?

    “In the morning, you broke away from the PDP to SDP and to the ADC (African Democratic Congress). Then in the evening, you say you are coming together…

    “There is no better proof than that old man who is going round as an organising secretary, recruiting people, looking for tired players to continue with his third term agenda which Nigerians have rejected.

    “By whatever form they come in, Nigerians have spoken and they are not about to return to the era when the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and the Central Bank and security money was shared to people based on the philosophy of PDP, which is, ‘Share the money.’

    “They won’t do that. It is very easy for robbers to forget the robbery they have carried out, but the victims of robbery hardly forget.”

    The APC chairman described the party’s victory in the Ekiti State governorship election as a good outing for him, having emerged as the party chairman just last month.

    He said the challenge now was for the governor-elect, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, to ensure that the people of the state recover from the lost ground arising from the alleged poor governance that was provided by the current PDP government.

    However, reacting to Oshiomhole’s veiled reference to Obasanjo, the Chairman of the ADC, Chief Okey Nwosu, said the APC chairman was a factional chairman of the party and therefore deserved no response.

    Nwosu alleged that it was laughable that the ruling party, which was pretending to fight corruption, could spend billions of naira buying votes in Ekiti State.

    He said the APC had failed to deliver on its promises and had therefore resorted to propaganda in a bid to distract Nigerians.

    He said, “Oshiomhole is a factional chairman. We in the ADC are focused and organised and don’t have time to be debating with a factional chairman. The propaganda and lies are no longer working and we are on a mission to rescue Nigeria.

    “Nigerians are now aware of the propaganda and lies of the APC. Nigerians have seen how the election in Ekiti happened. The Ekiti election was not a victory but a mere exercise of sharing N15bn.

    “They made the people poor and then bribed them for votes. It was nothing but a scandal.”

  • 2019: Despite holding peace talks, Ortom insists ‘I’m leaving APC for good’

    Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has declared that despite holding peace talks with the National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), his decision to leave the party has not changed.

    He told members of OnTiv Professionals Association in Abuja that he would not return to the party for any reason.

    Ortom spoke a few hours after emerging from a peace meeting with the APC national chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole where he said he had not dumped the party and had expressed hope of a peaceful resolution of the crisis in the party.

    But receiving his guests at the in Benue State Governor’s Lodge, Abuja, the governor said: “I can assure you and the good people of Benue that there is no going back on my decision to exit from the APC.”

    He added, “at the appropriate time in the next few weeks, I would make my next move public.”

    And responding on Friday to claims by the state branch of the APC that it was the governor that gave himself a red card after it raised issues of governance with him, Ortom branded the party a one-man show in Benue.

    His Chief Press Secretary, CPS, Terver Akase challenged the APC to “bring out facts to back their claim that they had faulted the performance of the Governor.”

    He said: “During the State Congress of the party at Aper Aku Stadium in Makurdi, it adopted the Governor as its consensus candidate. Again, the party publicly said its decision was based on the sterling stewardship of Governor Ortom within the last three years. But being the true democrat that he is, the Governor decided that other aspirants be also allowed to vie for the governorship seat to deepen internal democracy in the party.

    “While Governor Ortom appreciates the platform which APC gave him to offer service to the people of Benue State, it is regrettable that the same party has now turned to demonize him for obvious selfish reasons.

    “Governor Ortom has encouraged regular caucus and other stakeholders’ meetings at which he constantly gives briefings about the security and financial challenges in the state. He also gets feedback and input at such meetings.

    “His successful conduct of the local government elections which APC candidates overwhelmingly won chairmanship and councillorship positions throughout the state is proof of the popularity of his administration.

    “At no time did Governor Ortom ever mention that the APC in Benue State gave him a red card. He stated categorically that it was the leader of the party who said at several fora that he had given him red card and the Governor made efforts to resolve the matter within the structure of the party at the state level before going public.

    “That APC in the state has issued the statement as if it is the leader of the party or as if they are one and the same, underscores Governor Ortom’s concern that the party structure in the state is out to satisfy the whims and caprices of one individual.

    “It is now clear that APC in Benue State has opted to mortgage the interest of the people of the state. The party’s unprovoked attack on Governor Ortom points to where its interest lies.

    “More ridiculous is the fact that APC has become a one man show in Benue State. It should be on record that the attacks on Governor are coming now because he couldn’t meet some inordinate personal ambitions and interests of those who want to perpetually shortchange the people.

    “The media attack on Governor Ortom by the state chapter of APC is the beginning of the smear campaign about which we alerted Benue people and other Nigerians. More of such disparaging statements should be expected in the days to come.

    “However, no amount of intimidation or personal attacks can make the Governor to abandon the people of Benue State. He has chosen to stand with the people and won’t be distracted now or in the future.”

    Recall that Oshiomhole on Thursday had said Ortom “is not going anywhere” and called him “a very, very prominent member of our party.”

  • 2019: Ortom not going anywhere – Oshiomhole

    Adams Oshiomhole, national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), says Samuel Ortom, governor of Benue state, is not leaving the ruling party.

    Describing Ortom as a man of honour, Oshiomhole said the Benue governor who left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over three years ago cannot return there now.

    On Monday, Ortom had said he was considering joining a new party since he had been given a “red card” in the APC.

    But Oshiomole said the APC does not have a red card, therefore it can not give what it does not have.

    Oshiomhole spoke after meeting with Ortom at the APC secretariat on Thursday.

    “For PDP hovering round they must know that only people without honour will vomit in the morning and in the afternoon, they convert it to lunch. People like Ortom who have honour cannot leave PDP three and half years ago, with his eyes open, and then there is some tension in his master bedroom, he is thinking of returning to People Deceiving People? I mean that cannot be an option,” he said.

    “He is a man of honour. He knows that once you make one step forward, you take the second step to consolidate the first step and that is the way to go.”

    He said the issue between Ortom and George Akume, a former governor, would be resolved and there would be peace in the Benue chapter of the party.

    “Senator Akume is a respected leader of the party. He is former governor and a current senator. He will recognise the need for peace and we have what it takes to make peace,” he said.

    “In Benue, we are going for win-win solution. Governor Ortom is not going anywhere. He is a very prominent member of our party and we appreciate his leadership in Benue. We will do everything possible to help those who have issues to resolve the issues. The only thing we will not accept is anybody leaving the house we have toiled to build together.

    “APC does not even have red card, so we can’t give what we don’t have. We recognise that there could be a legitimate legal issue like agreement, disagreement and contest. All these we are familiar with, they are evidence that we are a democratic party. When leaders have disagreement, it is to help them and find a common ground and issues in Benue are not so fundamental that cannot be resolved. We are very confident that we will resolve them.”

    Ortom was among the three APC governors who met with PDP leaders in Ilorin, Kwara state capital, on Wednesday.

    Also in attendance was Senate President Bukola Saraki. The politicians met during the burial of the mother of Kawu Baraje, leader of the nPDP,a faction of the APC.

  • Your rigging machinery in Edo won’t work in Ekiti, Fayose tells Oshiomhole

    Governor Ayodele Fayose has slammed the National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) over his (Oshiomhole’s) alleged plans to rig in favour of the APC’s candidate in the July 14 governorship election, Kayode Fayemi.

    Fayose explained that he and his party simply demand the conduct of a credible, free and fair election, declaring that plan to use what he called the “Edo State option” in Ekiti next Saturday would fail.

    This is just as the governor said he won the June 21, 2014 governorship election fair and square and that the credibility of the election was attested to by local and international observers such as the American Government, and the British Department for International Development among others.

    The governor, who spoke in Ado-Ekiti on Saturday through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Idowu Adelusi, was reacting to a statement credited to the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Mr Adams Oshiomhole, that he and the PDP were being haunted and jittery about the coming election.

    “Oshiomole’s secret plan to use his fraudulent Edo template in Ekiti will never work and it will attract injurious consequences. This is because Ekiti people are resolutely determined to resist rigging right on the spot.

    “Contrary to Adams’ diatribe, rumour peddling and rabble rousing unbecoming of an ex- governor and national chairman of the ruling party, Fayose and PDP are only interested in a credible election.

    “Fayose and PDP are raising the alarm because of tell-tale signs that APC and Fayemi are plotting to rig the election.

    “The statements by top APC leaders including its former chairman, John Odigie-Oyegun that they must capture Ekiti by all means are very instructive in this regard.”

    Fayose added that the 2014 governorship election that the APC and its leaders tried to rubbish, was declared by the US and the international community as free and fair and as a reference point for future elections in Nigeria.

    He advised Oshiomhole to face the crisis rocking his party and allow people of Ekiti to freely choose their leader.

    “If Adams Oshiomhole still has problems with that election, he should address his misgivings to the US and the international community.

    “Besides, APC challenged the election up to the Supreme Court but lost. Is Adams Oshiomhole disputing and despising the highest court of the land? It must be noted that he himself became governor by the same court judgment.”

     

  • 2019: No time to waste on Galadima, others crying foul in R-APC – Oshiomhole

    2019: No time to waste on Galadima, others crying foul in R-APC – Oshiomhole

    The National Chairman of the ruling the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Adams Oshiomhole, has said that the APC leadership will rather ignore members of the Reformed-APC than be bothered by their action.

    He stated this on Friday in Abuja when Chairmen of the defunct Congress for Progressives Congress (CPC) paid him a visit at the party`s national secretariat.

    He, however, added that the party`s leadership would only attend to its members with genuine grievances with a view to addressing them.

    Oshiomhole who is just two-week-old in office, was rattled on Wednesday when some members of the party pulled out to form the Reformed All Progressives Congress (R-APC), a parallel structure.

    The group, which has all members of defunct nPDP and some APC members in its fold, is led by former National Secretary of defunct CPC, Alhaji Buba Galadima.

    Galadima claimed that the APC Constitution had been eroded and its recent congresses and National Convention were not transparent.

    “We listerned to Buba Galadima. It is as if a very hungry bird is dancing at the centre of the road and a disgruntled drummer not far away in the bush is drumming for him.

    “But this is not to say that we are not aware that there are challenges here and there, but anything about APC is considered more, much more than the sum total of all the challenges we have in many of the states.

    “And by the special grace of God, we shall overcome them and we are already overcoming them, I am very confident that we can afford to ignore Buba Galadima, “ Oshiomhole said.

    He re-emphasised that he was ready to go to any length to talk to people who meant well and who had genuine grievances against the party.

    Such grievances, he noted, may have arisen from communication gaps or misunderstanding or even from error of judgment on the part of anyone or even from the way the party managed things.

    “Protests like these are acknowledged and we are working to resolve them, when we see people who have genius grievances, we are not ashamed to talk to them.

    “We recognise that democracy is an equaliser and only people who are humble enough to engage can survive and we have been engaging, “ the APC national chairman said.

    He added that the party`s leadership had been meeting with various individuals and groups who had genuine concerns on certain matters.

    He hinted that progress was being made, but said that the party`s leadership knew those who do not mean well for the party, when such persons were seen.

    “There are a lot of idle people who don’t have any other thing to do and once they don’t have access to national honey pot, they begin to complain.

    “For me, there is no cause for alarm, nobody should panic over one Buba Galadima, whose group, I believe cannot define us in the next election in 2019.

    “Nigerians are wiser. They know that corruption is fighting back and that President Muhammadu Buhari’s resolve to fight corruption must elicit a counter force and that force must find attraction in some people,“ he said.

    Oshiomhole maintained that the APC would however, not be distracted by such persons, adding that President Buhari should not be distracted too.

    He stressed that the President must remain focused and sustain the fight against corruption.

    “I believe the rebellion will be crushed using the superior power of argument and persuading our people not to forget in a hurry where we are coming from,“ he said.

    Leader of the defunct CPC state chairmen, Alhaji Umar Shuaibu said they were at the party secretariat to pledge their support to the Oshiomhole-led newly elected National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC.

    He maintained that President Buhari has done enough for the country to deserve re-election in 2019, adding that Nigerians should keep faith with the Federal Government and refuse to be distracted.

     

  • Ekiti 2018: Fayemi will defeat your ‘apprentice’ without rigging – Oshiomhole tells Fayose

    The National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Adams Oshiomhole, says the party would not allow any form of rigging in the July 14 governorship election in Ekiti State.

    He stated this on Friday in Abuja in reaction to Ekiti Governor, Ayo Fayose’s allegation that the APC had plans to rig the election, using Federal Government might.

    Oshiomohole told newsmen that Fayose should go and learn how to persuade the electorate to get their votes and stop wild allegations.

    He alleged that Fayose got into office through election rigging using the instruments of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), then the party in power, but said that such instrument was no longer at the governor’s disposal.

    According to him, the APC has dismantled the PDP rigging instrument because as democrats, it does not want to copy such act.

    “For us, the PDP rigging machine is not something we want to copy; what we did was to dismantle it.

    “I think what Fayose can complain about is that he was not used to winning an election on the basis of merit; this time, those instruments of rigging are not available to him.

    “Now, he must learn to persuade the people to win election,” Oshiomhole said.

    He maintained that Dr Kayode Fayemi, a former governor of the state and the APC candidate for the election, was tested and trusted and was capable of winning the state for the party.

    “Ekiti people are going to choose between a tested and trusted hand and someone who has done his apprenticeship under a very controversial personality.

    “I believe that people of Ekiti are now very much aware of what the issues are.

    “They will go to make a sensible judgment and we are very certain that it will be in favour of our candidate and our party,” he said.

    Oshiomhole expressed optimism that “God willing and with the support of the people of the state and on the basis of one-man one-vote and free and fair election, APC would emerge victorious at the election.

    He said that Ekiti government had not paid salaries of its workers for months “even though the governor has been collecting Federal Government bailout funds repeatedly for that purpose’’.

  • 2019: Only enthronement of justice can solve APC crisis, Dogara tells Oshiomhole

    The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has warned the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) that it is only by enthroning justice and equity that it will be able to silence voices of dissent and opposition within the party.

    According to a statement released by his spokesperson, Turaki Hassan, Dogara spoke on Thursday at a meeting between APC members of the House and members of the newly elected national working committee of the party, led by the chairman, Adams Oshiomhole.

    He said the meeting took place at the National Assembly.

    According to the statement, Dogara noted that although there is no human endeavour that is perfect.

    “APC lawmakers only expect justice, which is indivisible and universal.

    “In every family whether it is a nuclear, extended or an organisation there is bound to be problem and that is because we humans that are running those institutions are not perfect ourselves. So we don’t expect perfection from any quarters.

    “Our only expectation is the issue of justice and justice is indivisible. What is justice to the executive should be justice to the legislature and it should be justice to the judiciary,” Dogara was quoted to have said.

    “What is justice to the President and the Vice President should be justice to the Governor and it has to be justice for the members of the National Assembly, because you can’t divide justice. Once you begin to divide justice you don’t have justice.”

    “And once we are able to get these things in their proper perspectives to some extent, we will be able to silence the voices of dissent within the party.

    “But that we have problems is perfectly okay, but we mustn’t allow our problems to define us. Rather, we should define our problems as a party.”

    Dogara expressed optimism about the ability and capacity of the new APC chairman, Oshiomhole, to tackle the challenges confronting the party.

    He said, “I know that you come well prepared; we can only wish you well and pray for God’s additional wisdom because human wisdom won’t be enough as you navigate very treacherous terrain.

    “We pray God wisdom for you.”

    For his part, Mr Oshiomhole told the lawmakers that “every person matters in our party because all party members voluntarily moved from various political platforms, and dissolved those platforms in order to give birth to the All Progressive Congress.”

    He said that the idea of delivering the greater good for the greater number of Nigerian citizens is what binds the APC together and “defines us in spite of the teething problems we were bound to experience that every new organisation goes through.”

    Recall that Oshiomhole had on Wednesday held a similar meeting with the Senate caucus of the party.

    The meeting came as some members, including associates of leaders of the National Assembly, gathered at a hotel in Abuja and announced the formation of the Reformed APC.

    The party later on Thursday formally reacted to the emergence of the group, describing it as a mischievous attempt to create an impression that the APC was factionalised.

  • Oshiomhole begs APC splinter group, R-APC to exercise patience

    Following the report that a rebel faction [nPDP] pulled out of All Progressives Congress, National Chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole, has appealed to aggrieved members of the party to exercise patience with his leadership.

    He said this shortly after news broke that a faction had pulled out of the ruling party.

    Oshiomhole who spoke after receiving the report of the party’s national convention appeal panel committee report.

    “My appeal to all those who are aggrieved is to be patient,” Oshiomhole said.

    “The assurance is that under my leadership, we will make honest mistakes and once our attention is drawn, we will find courage to make up for our mistake.

    “Some people say how can people eat their words, for me, I will eat my words if it is nutritious enough and if that is what I have to do to have peace in the family.”

    He expressed appreciation to members of the party for his election and for entrusting with him, the responsibility to pilot the party’s affairs at this time.

    He acknowledged that he knew of the party’s challenges before accepting the task, saying it is a huge opportunity for him and other newly elected executives of the party to make a difference.

    This, Oshiomhole said, was not only for the party, but for the country generally.

    “So, I appeal to people to realise that a blind man can redeem his eyes if he applies the correct medication, but you can’t force it to open over night,” he said.

    He added that forcing the eyes to open over night, would create more problems and damage the eye the more.

    The APC national chairman maintained that he would do everything possible to sustain confidence and trust, adding that everybody was important in the party.

    He also said that everybody in the party matters, adding that he would run an inclusive party.

    “I pray for wisdom and courage and I believe that we have it and we will deploy it for peace within the APC family,” Oshiomhole said.