The Governor of Edo
State, Godwin Obaseki, has broken his silence on the alleged face-off between
him and the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Comrade Adams
Oshiomhole.
The Governor
described the reported quarrel between them as fake news.
He also said the
issue of him getting a second term in office or not depends entirely on God and
the people of Edo state.
Obaseki addressed
journalists on Sunday night in Abuja shortly after attending a meeting of the
Progressive Governors Forum.
Asked about his
reportedly damaged relationship with Oshiomhole, Obaseki simply said, “there is
no infraction between me and the National Chairman of the party. It is all in
the press. It is all fake news.”
On his second term
bid, the governor said, “My second term is left to God and the people of Edo
state. At the end of the day, the people will decide depending on how much they
see that we have added value to their lives.”
Oshiomhole vs Oyegun: Orji Kalu advises Buhari on what to do
A former governor
of Abia State, Dr Orji Kalu, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene
in the dispute between the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress
(APC), Mr Adams Oshiomhole and his predecessor, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun.
The News Agency of
Nigeria (NAN) reports that Kalu made the plea on Friday while speaking with
newsmen at the Murtala Muhammed Airport 2, Ikeja, Lagos State.
He said the
intervention of the president was needed to restore peace to the party
leadership and ensure that APC remains focused on delivering its manifesto to
Nigerians.
Kalu said, “What is
happening between them is the beauty of democracy because we agree to disagree.
“However, we are
calling on Buhari to intervene just like the way he did in the Sen. Danjuma
Goje and Sen. Ahmed Lawan matter which has seen Goje stepping down for Lawan
for the Senate President position.
“Before, the
president will say I don’t want to play politics but he is the chief politician
and he has started changing his mind to intervene in such cases.
“So, I am sure that
we will sort out Oyegun and Oshiomhole’s problems before next week with the
intervention of the president and I am sure he is already working on that.”
He, however, urged
some politicians to desist from using the name of the president to push their
own agenda, stressing that Buhari’s integrity had remained intact despite their
antics.
The Senator-elect
for Abia North on the platform of APC also insisted that he was still in the
race for the position of the Deputy Senate President in the Ninth Senate.
He said, ”I am not
only restating it but I am saying that it is the most godly thing to do because
I am ready to do that job to help the Senate in law making and help the
executive to bring stimulus that would heat the economy.
“I am interested in
the economy heating up because if we get the economy right, the insecurity that
we are facing now will go away.
“Also, we need to
look at candidates that have capacity to do the work and I have that capacity.
“Capacity to help
the president actualise his economic goals because we need to put the Nigerian
economy on track.”
Kalu assured
Nigerians that the Ninth Senate which would be inaugurated on June 11, would
engage in robust lawmaking and would not be a rubber-stamp assembly.
He also expressed
confidence that Lawan would clinch the position of the senate president and
that the lawmakers would work in harmony with the Executive to deliver the
dividends of democracy to Nigerians.
Imo APC speaks on call for Adams Oshiomhole’s resignation
The Imo State
chapter of All Progressive Congress, APC, has passed a vote of confidence on
the party’s National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole.
The state chapter
of the party said removing Oshiomhole would lead to serious crisis within the
party.
A member of the
National Working Committee, who also leads the party in the state, Marcellinus
Nlemigbo made the remark while condemning the call for Oshiomhole’s
resignation by the APC Deputy National Chairman (North) Lawan Shuaib.
In a letter he had
made public few days ago, Lawal said the APC National Chairman has performed
below expectation.
However, Nlemigbo
while address newsmen yesterday in Owerri, the state capital described the call
as “unpatriotic and in bad faith.”
He appealed to party members in the state to stand against any plan to destroy
APC both at the state and federal levels.
According to
Nlemigbo: “We, the APC in Imo State, have declared our total and unalloyed
support for the national chairman of our party, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.
“We have absolute
confidence in his leadership, which led the party to a historic victory in this
year’s presidential elections
“Therefore, we see
the call by the deputy national chairman (North), Sen. Lawal Shuaibu, for the
national chairman to resign as unpatriotic and in bad faith.
“Anybody canvassing
the removal of Oshiomhole does not have the interest of APC at heart because
such an ill-advised move will definitely precipitate a big crisis in the
party.”
NASS leadership:
Oshiomhole, Tinubu under fire over stance on Ahmed Lawan, Femi Gbajabiamila
Second republic
federal lawmaker, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, has said that while the All Progressives
Congress, APC, had the right to show keen interest in those aspiring to lead
the National Assembly, the dictatorial posture of its leaders was a turn-off.
Speaking with Sunday Telegraph, Mohammed said the utterances of the APC
National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, on the leadership tussle in the National
Assembly portrayed him as someone who did not understand party leadership.
According to Mohammed, while the party had a right to demand the
loyalty of its members elected into the National Assembly, its leaders must
learn not to make careless utterances on the matter.
He said, “I admit that because of what happened last time (2015), the
APC wants to make sure it gets it right this time. But it appears that the same
carelessness with which they handled the matter last time is also repeating
itself.
“Last time some members of the party felt that they had something
called independence or autonomy of the parliament so they can do what they
like. But it would have made a lot of sense of they had won the election as
independent candidates. It is only then that they can talk about independence
of the legislature.
“However, Oshiomhole has carried over his attitude as a labour unionist
and enforcer of strikes into the running of a political party and nobody has
called him to order.
“If he thinks that it is only by bullying members of party in the
National Assembly that they would achieve their goal then he must have a
rethink. He should never have been the National Chairman of the ruling party or
any other party for that matter. We tend to think people will change their
character when they occupy certain positions of authority but it doesn’t happen
that way. It is not possible for leopard to change its spots,” he said.
Mohammed did not also spare a national leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola
Tinubu, for inadvertently “playing roles” that could hurt the ruling party in
the long run.
He said that the fact that both Senator Ahmed Lawan and Rep. Femi
Gbajabiamila are perceived as Tinubu’s candidates had already become a
challenge for duo who are seeking to lead the incoming National Assembly.
Junaid Mohammed said, “It is an open secret that Tinubu had a
presidential ambition in 2023 and whatever he does now is perceived as designed
to boost his own chances in the future.
“But how many votes can Lawan mobilise for him in Yobe and the North
and how many votes can Gbajabiamila deliver for him in Lagos and the South
West? But I don’t see how fixing certain people in certain places in the
National Assembly can advance his political career. It will not and he needs to
very careful,” he said.
Mohammed urged the ruling party to put their house in order by
persuading their members to support their preferred candidates on the basis of
merit rather than through coercion or godfatherism.
He warned that if the APC goes about it recklessly they may create
another opportunity for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to cash in on their
mistakes.
Gov. Obaseki reacts to rumoured
rift with Oshiomhole
Governor
Godwin Obaseki of Edo State said on Wednesday that there was no rift between
him and his predecessor in office, Adams Oshiomhole, current National Chairman
of the All Progressives Congress, APC.
Obaseki made the clarification at the Benin
airport upon his arrival in the state following a one-month vacation.
The governor described it as fake news, the
reported rift with Oshiomhole over his second term ambition.
Obaseki said that people of the state should
be engaging themselves with how the government could provide good governance to
them and not petty issues.
He said that Edo people should expect more
“wait and see” as he had returned refreshed, feeling good and ready to continue
to deliver good governance to the people of the state.
Obaseki, who was accompanied by his wife,
Betsy, arrived the Benin airport at exactly 11.30am.
NAN reports that combined security operatives
from the 4th brigade, DSS, and the police had a hectic time controlling the
mammoth crowd that thronged the airport to welcome the governor.
Deputy Governor Phillip Shaibu, Secretary to
the state government, Osarodion Ogie, Edo State House of Assembly Speaker,
Kabiru Adjoto and Chief of staff to the governor, Taiwo Akerele, and some APC
leader were among officials who received the governor.
