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Alarmed at the fast pace the condition of the party was deteriorating ahead of Edo governorship primaries, governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC) met virtually on Saturday in what appears a last-ditch effort to rescue Governor Godwin Obaseki and stop the imminent loss of the state to the opposition.
The meeting, it was gathered, also deliberated on the situation in Ondo, and resolved to intervene in the lingering crisis which has seen the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) disqualifying a sitting governor from participating in the June 22 primary of the APC in Edo.
A statement conveying the decision reached at the meeting and signed by Governor Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State, who is the chairman of the Progressive Governors’ Forum, disclosed that the governors had “collectively agreed to work to ensure strengthening fair and democratic internal party mechanism for the selection of party candidates in all elections, especially in respect of Edo and Ondo states 2020 governorship elections”.
Recall that the National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC had on Saturday ratified the disqualification of Governor Obaseki of Edo State and two others following their earlier disqualification by the APC Screening and Appeals Committee.
The other two disqualified aspirants in the exercise were Chris Ogiemwonyi and Matthew Aigbuhuenze Iduoriyekemwen.
The statement assured that the governors would resolve all current challenges and that the party would emerge stronger.
The forum said it had resolved to “unanimously reaffirm the commitment of all progressive governors to work for the unity of our party”.
It added: “Forum members are confident that the party will resolve all current challenges and emerge stronger.”
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A source close to one of the governors hinted that most of the APC governors were not happy with the overbearing stance of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and the action so far taken by the APC leadership, stating that the NWC had glaringly usurped the powers of the party’s NEC and breached the APC constitution.
However, according to the source, the situation was still redeemable.
“I know there are several engagements still going on to resolve some of the controversial steps taken by the APC NWC.
“We might likely see some of these decisions reversed because the feeling is that NWC does not have the power to do some of the things they did regarding Edo.
“So, the governors are still engaging with all the concerned stakeholders,” the source said.
Wherever Obaseki Goes, We Will Go— Idahosa
Meanwhile, Chief Charles Idahosa, a former Commissioner for Information, on Sunday said leaders of the APC are united with Governor Godwin Obaseki on any decision he takes on his political future.
Idahosa, who condemned the disqualification of the governor by the APC screening committee from the governorship primaries, said leaders of the party were not surprised by the development as Oshiomhole had carefully planned the hatchet job from the onset.
“It didn’t come to me and many of us who are supporters of Governor Godwin Obaseki as a surprise.
“It is a hatchet job carried out by a stark illiterate who calls himself the national chairman of APC when in the real sense of it, he is not the national chairman. He has never respected the constitution of the party.
“It is just unfortunate that I have always repeated the way the party hierarchy is allowing one man who doesn’t even have a primary six certificate to be bastardising the party through illegality.
“I felt so sorry for APC. It was a charade and I’m happy that coincidentally it happened on Democracy Day, June 12. On this day, we saw the exhibition of undemocratic actions by a man who doesn’t know his left from his right.
“APC is dead and the undertaker to carry its corpse is Oshiomhole. Because you have hatred for one man and then you use your official power against him”.
On those advising the governor to take the Ambode option by opting out of the race, Idahosa said what happened in Lagos during the governorship primaries is not the same with the situation in Edo.
According to him, Ambode bowed out of the race easily because he doesn’t control the APC structures in Lagos, which, according to him, is under the firm grip of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the national leader of the party.
He, however, said the scenario is different when compared to Edo State as Governor Obaseki controls all the party’s structures from state executive to ward level.
He said that was why Adams Oshiomhole, APC national chairman did everything to bar him from contesting the primaries on the party’s platform.
“We’ve always said that Edo is not Lagos. What happened in Ambode’s case was that Ambode depended hundred percent on Tinubu. All the structures of the party are in Tinubu’s hands. That was why on the day of the primary, the Deputy Governor, SSG, all of them ran away from Ambode and he lost woefully.
“But in Edo State, the whole structure is under the control of Governor Godwin Obaseki. We control the whole 18 local governments unlike Ambode who doesn’t have any control but was waiting for Tinubu to do everything for him. We control the executive of the party and all other apparatus of the party.
“When Oshiomhole was contesting for governor and he was asked to present his certificate, he had nothing to show for it. The APC has never been a political party; it is an amalgam of people with different reasons to come to power by removing PDP at all cost.
“After achieving that, they didn’t know what to do with power at all. APC will die before 2023 and after Buhari’s tenure, there will be nothing like APC again.
“So, we are not afraid at all because the situation in Edo and Lagos are not similar. That is why you see Oshiomhole doing everything to stop the governor from contesting. Governor Obaseki is the one keeping us in APC. Obaseki is the one insisting on APC. Wherever he goes, we go. We are united on this, wherever Obaseki, Shaibu go, we go”.
SOURCE : Independent
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