APC Won’t Bend Rules For Obaseki, Says Oshiomhole

The national chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole says the party cannot bend the provisions of its constitution to suit anybody, including the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki.

Oshiommhole stated this on Monday, after visiting Chief of Staff, Ibrahim Gambari at the State House in Abuja.

Commenting on Obaseki’s possible exit from the party, following his disqualification from contesting the APC governorship primary, the former Edo governor said he has no idea, stressing that the party will continue to uphold the rules of its constitution.

“I don’t know about exit. What we see from your media, electronic and print, is that he visited a number of PDP governors. We read from electronic and print that those consultations may have to do with his plan and so on. But we are not here to speculate,” he said. 

“Our party is not a party of big men. It is governed by rules. Both the small and the big are subjected to those rules. I’m sure you will agree that our president led by example when we conducted the direct primary in the last presidential election. We still went to Eagle Square for affirmation.

“So, if the president did not have the right of first refusal because our constitution does not provide for it, we cannot under any circumstances now bend the rules when it comes to some people and change the rules when it comes to others.

“Our duty as the management board of APC is to ensure that we strictly obey the provisions of our constitution, which empowers the National Working Committee to conduct primaries for president, governors, national assembly, and state houses of assembly.”

MERIDIAN SPY reported earlier the Edo state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) revealed Obaseki will join the party soon, but stressed that there will be no automatic ticket for him.

The party fixed Friday June 19 and Saturday June 20 for its governorship primary election, while the ruling party fixed Monday, June 22 for its primary election, ahead of the September governorship polls.