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*Andrew Adaze*
One of the many puzzles of our current political moment is how few bad men soar and shine among many living good ones. Men, whose lives are governed by the principle of Italian philosopher, Niccolò Machiavelli, who in his political treatise ‘The Prince’ in the 1500s, preaches that “the end justifies the means”, especially among politicians. A principle, which over the years, has been confirmed to promote long knives of unproductive finger-pointing and demonising.
In Machiavelli belief, a leader must ‘learn how not to be good’, make effective use of deception, cruelty, and self-interest in order to maintain his position. Famously, he says that it is best for the ruler to be both loved and feared, but if he has to choose, it is better to be feared than loved.
As irk as this may sound, Nigeria today is fronted by such inglorious fable in the character of the current National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, a man whose actions and lifestyle has been labelled as sneaky, greedy, cunning, and lacking in moral code. One who is largely described as nobody’s idea of a good person.
From his days of rise to limelight as president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), he began to sell his ignoble personality as one that thrives in crisis and propaganda to allocate himself an underserved value. For very selfish reasons, he grapples to be the lead actor always, even if the director casts him to merely play a subordinate role. The more reason why though he was merely the NLC President, when Chief Olusegun Obasanjo was the President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, it seemed Nigeria had two presidents. Unknown to many, he was busy buying public goodwill to catapult him as the next governor of Edo State after Mr. Lucky Igbinedion.
After running Edo State with his ‘infantry division’ of thugs for eight years like their private kitchens, Oshiomhole, in his desperate and self-centered nature, is hell-bent on ousting the incumbent Governor of Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki in his bid to ascend the glorified throne of a godfather, which he fought against all through his tenure as governor. This he has done in a highway of cruelty and sheer egocentrism, not minding whose ox is gored.
In his idea of combatting godfatherism in the state, Lucky Igbinedion, his father, the Esama of Benin, Gabriel Igbinedion and the PDP establishment that had cut their noses to spite their faces for the sake of Oshiomhole had salt rubbed into their injury.
Now, with his eyes on the ball like a typical Oshiomhole, and knowing he would need huge resources in the brewing political impasse with his successor, Governor Godwin Obaseki, so as to actualise this selfish desire, he realised the necessity of controlling a government parastatal where there would be a lot of cash flow, hence the plot to annex the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) through his cronies.
In his crafty character, he quickly positioned his stooge and former deputy, Pius Odubu, as chairman of the board in liaison with his allies at the presidency and National Assembly when President Muhammadu Buhari was away on a foreign trip, violating all known rules and breaching all constitutional provisions that set the order for the appointment of the NDDC board chair.
The NDDC, set up in the year 2000, was an agency in the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) until the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019.The agency was moved to the Niger Delta Ministry headed by Senator Godswill Akpabio. However, since his assumption of office, Mr. Akpabio has lamented the height of corruption within the agency and described it as an ‘ATM’ where top officials steal public funds without being questioned.
It was in the midst of this controversy that Oshiomhole connived with ‘some cronies’ in the presidency to carry out the hasty appointment of board members of the NDDC, which “run afoul of due process and the constitution.” However, before their confirmation, Akpabio announced an interim management team for the agency.
President Buhari eventually declared support for Akpabio’s stance, cancelling the nominees and ordering forensic audit of the activities of the board.
This is a man whose performance in his exalted position as the National Chairman has brought more shame and chaos to the party. He should be leashed because his continuous rule portends doom for the APC and Nigeria, needless to mention his outing in the last states’ elections. Amidst charges of bribery, nookie favours and inducement from conducting primaries, Oshiomhole imposed unpopular candidates in many states and constituencies against the wishes of the party faithful. As a result, the APC, which assumed power in 2015 with a commanding control of 23 states, has now seen its fortune dwindled down to holding onto 19 states. The recent electoral victory in Bayelsa, many have averred was a result of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader in the state and former President, Goodluck Jonathan deal to help the APC win.
The comrade could not carry his South-South zone or even his home state of Edo, an APC state, despite claiming to have squandered huge elections monies in the area in the course of Buhari’s re-election. Painful to note that Kano State, once the party’s electoral mainstay, has turned into a battleground. Edo, Rivers, Zamfara, Kogi, Imo, Bauchi, Oyo, Ogun, etc are all a war zone politically. One would wonder if it is better to call him a national failure or a fallen hero.
Oshiomhole, apart from losing control of the party in his home state, has been suspended by the APC in his ward and Local Government Area levels. The suspension has been ratified by the Edo State APC Chapter. Also, governors and states’ party chairmen are finalising processes to oust the national party chairman, who they say has caused the party more embarrassments and loses since his assumption to office.
Already, a former Commissioner for Information in Edo state under Oshiomhole, and chieftain of the APC, Charles Idahosa, flayed the National Chairman for his involvement in the NDDC board appointments, noting that the activities have caused irredeemable embarrassment to President Buhari.
He said, “As far as I am concerned, the President has been thoroughly embarrassed by the situation. First, the President was outside the country when the list was announced. Also, the President was not in the country when it was submitted for confirmation. I think somebody was playing smart to do things. If there is any major suspect involved in this, it is no other person than Adams Oshiomhole.
“There is no question that Oshiomhole has been dishing out instructions to the leadership of the National Assembly that he assisted to emerge, so they are sheepishly loyal to him. He has committed a lot of atrocities such as lack of respect for the constitution of the party. He made use of the national assembly members to hurriedly confirm the members of the NNDC board. So, the president must set up an investigation to find out how this thing happened because even a primary school pupil will know that the names were in alphabetical order. How did the names come in?”
It is our own Chinua Achebe that rightly posits that “Those whose palm-kernels were cracked for them by a benevolent spirit should not forget to be humble,” but Adams Oshiomhole’s ego, greed and selfishness will never let him learn from his own mistakes. But for the sake of the ruling party, the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the APC must remove Oshiomhole as he lacks the moral rectitude to continue to function in the office of the National Chairman of the APC. The earlier this is done, the better for the party and Nigerians.
A party that prides on its anti-corruption strides must not have as its chairman, a man who has a strong corruption noose dangling around his neck. President Muhammadu Buhari must act now to save the APC from imminent collapse especially as he would not be participating in the elections in 2023.
*_Adaze, a Constitutional Lawyer wrote from Benin_*
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