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*By ANSELM U. OJEZUA*
On the 16 December, 2019, we, as the executive committee members of All Progressives Congress (APC), Edo State Chapter, declared our stand on Comrade Adams Oshiomhole’s legality and capacity to function in office as national chairman of the APC due to his suspension as a member of the Party by his own people in Ward 10 of Etsako West Local Government Area of Edo State.
In that statement, we posed the relevant question whether a person whose membership is in abeyance could purport to function as an officer of the party. We also raised very pertinent issues regarding the dire consequences of the embattled national chairman purporting to commit the party in any way or even execute documents on its behalf.
In our opinion, these issues were sufficiently serious to warrant the resignation of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole as national chairman and we said so. Our belief then was that he would save our party a lot of trouble and embarrassment by so doing.
Rather than heed the advice of his people, Oshiomhole has persisted in his arrogance and impunity. He has continued to make pronouncements and take actions which have further aggravated divisions within the party thereby moving it towards the precipice.
The problems which now threaten the very existence of the APC in Edo State started with the conduct of primaries to elective offices in 2018. In accordance with the resolution passed by the National Executive Committee of the party, the leadership of the party in the state adopted the indirect mode of primaries but Oshiomhole decreed that it must be done by direct primaries. However, to avoid rancour and acrimony which have the capacity to heat up the polity and being sensitive to the fact that Oshiomhole is from Edo State, we complied.
Contrary to the calendar circulated by the NWC where a separate day was dedicated to the conduct of the exercise for each position, the NWC did not appoint a Committee to conduct the party primaries in the state until the very last day. Worse still, the exercise conducted was unilaterally and arbitrarily cancelled by Oshiomhole without recourse to either the state executive of the party or the governor of the state.
Although we took serious exceptions to this naked display of abuse of power, we complied with his directive to conduct a fresh exercise. Had we not, we would have been exposed to the fatal consequences that befell our compatriots in Zamfara and a number of other states. However, Edo State lost the opportunity to participate in the convention that nominated President Muhammadu Buhari as the flagbearer of our party in the Presidential election because the National Convention was held on the same day as the controversial primaries conducted at the instance of Oshiomhole.
After the presidential elections, we received numerous reports of anti-party activities by individuals closely linked to Oshiomhole. It was obvious that the objective was to justify the wicked falsehood which was quietly being peddled by them at the time, that the governor was a political burden to the party. It is on record, however, that Mr. President scored more votes and recorded a higher percentage in 2019 under the watch of Governor Godwin Obaseki than in 2015 when Comrade Oshiomhole was governor. Governor Obaseki’s reputation and acceptability became even more evident during the House of Assembly elections where our party swept all the seats available in a historic and an unprecedented manner; a feat never before achieved by any political party in the history of Edo State.
Having failed to discredit the governor at the polls the same individuals resorted to a campaign of calumny and infamy against him, his deputy and top government functionaries, deploying very raw and uncouth language in a sustained media blitz while showering praises on the National Chairman on each of those occasions leaving no one in doubt as to whose interest they were serving. They also held very well publicized meetings, using the APC logo in their publications.
To check the unwholesome activities of the said individuals, the State Working Committee convened an emergency meeting on the 28th of May 2019 where it resolved, following Article 21 A. (vi), of the Constitution of the APC, which expressly forbids the factionalisation or creation of parallel structures within the Party, to condemn this attempt at factionalisation and accordingly admonished members not to associate with those attempting to divide the party. The state chairman briefed the national chairman on this development when they met at his residence in Abuja on 29 May, 2019.
In consequence of the prevailing state of affairs, series of meetings were held at different levels of the party in the state where far reaching decisions were taken in the overriding interest of the party in Edo State, including the meeting of the APC Executives of Ward 10 in Etsako West Local Government Area of Edo State held on the 2nd day of November 2019 where a Vote of No Confidence was passed on Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, consequent upon which he was suspended from the Party. The suspension has since been affirmed by Ward Chairmen of APC in Etsako West Local Government Area, Edo State held on the 6th day of November 2019 and the LGA Executives of APC in Etsako West Local Government Area of Edo State via a meeting held on the 9th day of November 2019.
Strangely, rather than follow due process in responding to these actions and in spite of all attempts by the leadership of the party to intervene, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, apparently feeling too big to subject himself to the processes of ‘small people’ including his Ward Executives and the Local Government Party Chairmen, chose to continue to make and sponsor divisive comments in the print and electronic media.
It was in such dire circumstances and to preserve the sanctity of our constitution and restore order within the ranks of the party that the state chapter of the party had to approach the court, which resulted in an Order of the High Court, Benin, directing the sustenance of status quo ante and effectively restraining one Col. David Imuse (Rtd) from parading himself as Chairman of the party in Edo State.
Our understanding of the decision of the National Executive Committee of the All Progressives Congress on the issue of setting up the Reconciliation Committee is that it ought to be set up directly by President Muhammadu Buhari in his capacity as leader of the Party, as Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and the National Working Committee are currently embroiled in most of the disputes across the country and their actions and inactions resulted in most of such disputes.
Accordingly, we wish to, once again, call on the leadership of the Party, particularly, Mr. President, the Progressive Governors Forum, the State Chairmen, other members of the National Executive Committee of the party and other well meaning leaders of the party to rise up to the occasion, do the needful and deal with the cankerworm currently eating deep into the fabrics of our party. We believe this is supported by our recent experiences as a party, that a political solution is always better than a judicial solution in circumstances such as this.
While we pledge to work with a properly, fairly and duly constituted Reconciliation Committee to resolve this long-drawn, needless and avoidable crisis in the Edo State chapter of our party, our position, which we have mentioned and variously reiterated in the past, is that it has become clearly impossible for Oshiomhole to continue to lead the APC as national chairman. It is imperative that he steps aside to save the soul of the party. It cannot be overemphasized that having been validly suspended as a member of the party by his ward, all actions and steps taken by him as national chairman are in jeopardy with the likelihood of grave consequences for the party.
*_Ojezua is the chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Edo State._*
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