The Director-General of Progressive Governors Forum, Salihu Lukman said
retaining Adams Oshiomhole as the chairman of the All Progressive Congress APC
may cost the party its governorship ticket in Edo, Anambra and Ondo States.
The embattled APC national chairman was on Wednesday suspended after an
Abuja High Court made the order pending the determination of a substantive suit
seeking his removal but, on Thursday, another High Court in Kano granted
his request for stay of execution.
Speaking on Friday, Salihu stated that the party is not in a good state due
to the way the Oshiomhole-led NWC members constituted “themselves into an
unaccountable assembly with a thuggish temperament, which seeks to browbeat
every member of the party especially aspiring candidates into submission”.
He said “Whether we want to accept it or not, we today found ourselves with
the embarrassing situation whereby almost all the structures of the party have
been frozen at all levels” adding that “it would be inadvisable if the
Oshiomhole-led NWC conducts the Edo, Ondo and Anambra governorship primary
elections with all the challenges on the ground.
“It would be reckless of any politician to aspire to contest on the platform
of the party with Oshiomhole as the national chairman.”
The PDF DG further stated that “It is important to ask the question,
assuming in all of these, Oshiomhole remained as the National Chairman and
proceed to organise primary elections for Edo, Ondo, and Anambra, how
advantageous will that be to APC?
“Let us also assume for the purpose of analysis that undisputed candidates
emerge from the primaries in which no one within the party is contesting the
results.
“Whether those undisputed candidates include Governors Godwin Obaseki of Edo
State and Rotimi Akeredolu, SAN of Ondo State is immaterial. The Zamfara and
Bayelsa judicial cloud would appear to have already gathered with any
opposition party led by PDP just positioned to harvest what will come with such
clouds.
“Given such reality, it will be foolhardy for any upright thinking
politician to aspire to contest on the platform of the party with Oshiomhole as
the National Chairman. The only possible remedy will be if Comrade Oshiomhole
is able to humble himself and go back to the root cause of the problem and
resolve it.”
He therefore asked Oshiomhole to “humble himself and go back to his roots
and resolve all the causes of the problem.”
