National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, has said that contrary to the impression that the ruling party is being hit by mass defection, it was the opposition, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that is losing members.
According to him, a party whose founding fathers including Professor Jerry Gana and former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who he referred to as the organising secretary going about recruiting tired politicians to continue his third term agenda, can never upstage the ruling party.
Oshiomhole was responding to reports of mass defection threatening APC, after a closed door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari. According to him, “I think this is what you should ask the PDP, they are the ones who have suffered huge mass defection even of the so called founding fathers. In those good old days people like Professor Jerry Gana will tell us that we are the founding fathers, people like President Obasanjo will tell you that ‘I was the first president’ and all those stuff, all of these people are gone.
“I think the media should get more engaged and scrutinize those of us who are political players, especially when we speak from both sides of our mouths, or we know are turning the truth upside down.
“And there is no better proof than that old man who is going round as an organising secretary, recruiting people, looking for tired players to continue with his third term agenda which Nigerians have rejected. By whatever form they come in, Nigerians have spoken and they are not about to return to the era where NNPC and Central Bank and security money is shared to people based on the philosophy of PDP, share the money, they won’t do that. It is very easy for robbers to forget the robbery they have committed but the victims of robbery hardly forget.”
On the just concluded Ekiti election, the APC National Chairman said, Ekiti people have just elected to continue with a better Fayemi era.
He said, “We are very excited that the good people of Ekiti State voted very wisely. I think the people of Ekiti having recalled the good days of Fayemi and comparing them to the level they were reduced to under the present government voted wisely for change and for Fayemi to continue his unfinished business. And for us we are very very happy and that Ekiti people will be the better for it for the decision they have taken.
Speaking on his mission to the Presidential Villa, Oshiomhole said, it was to ensure there is no gap between the party and the presidency.
“Well, as the national chairman of the governing party, I have responsibilities to administer the party and party matters in a very dynamic political environment such as the one we are in, that there are issues from time to time and I have come here to meet with Mr. President, who is the head of the federal government and the executive, elected on the platform of our great party, to share with him what we are doing in the party and also learn from him what he is doing in government, so that there is no gap between party and government. That is the way it should be. I am very excited that we had a very brief and business like meeting which has been the president’s tradition.”
On why the Imo State congress was held despite court injunction, he said, “I know for a fact that we were served with a court paper which annulled the congresses that were done under the leadership of my predecessor and on the basis of the court judgement which annulled the election, we were obliged to now go back and re-conduct which is what we are doing today. If anybody purports there is a new court order, it has not been served on me. You will agree no matter how smallish I look that I have a postal address, house address, an office address and so it is not possible to have a court order and it is not served on me. I do not belong to the category that will run away from service, if there is a court order as a governing party we are obliged to lead by example. So the truth is there is no such court order.”
Asked if he was not aware of any stay of execution order by the court, the APC party leader said, “There is no stay of execution. A stay of execution is not something that is secret, if somebody claims to have one, ask him to show you a copy.”
The Sun
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