A last-minute meeting summoned to discuss the fate of Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has failed to save the embattled chief executive as the National Working Committee (NWC) of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) on Monday said that it would go ahead with June 22, 2020 governorship primary election.
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The APC National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, fielded questions from State House reporters after a meeting with the Chief of Staff (CoS) to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari.
The meeting was attended by the Chairman of the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF) and Governor of Kebbi State, Atiku Bagudu, as well as four members of the APC National Working Committee (NWC), including the National Vice Chairman (North West), Barr. Inuwa Abdulkadir; National Treasurer, Adamu Panda; National Welfare Officer, Ibrahim Masari; and National Publicity Secretary, Malam Lanre Issa-Onilu.
Bagudu, who represented the APC governors at the meeting, did not wait while Oshiomhole was speaking with journalists after the meeting.
The meeting was believed to have discussed the fallout of the disqualification of the incumbent Governor Obaseki from participating in the state governorship primary election.
Oshiomhole, who said the APC had followed all necessary guidelines and standard practice required ahead of the primary, expressed optimism that the process would be “free, fair, and transparent” and produce a candidate that would unify the party.
Asked whether the APC was ready for Obaseki’s exit, Oshiomhole said: “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. Our party is not a party of big men. It is governed by rules.
“Both the small and the big are subjected to that rule.
“I’m sure you will agree that our President led by example when we conducted 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 rule when it comes to others.
“Our duty as the management board of the APC is to ensure that we obey strictly the provisions of our Constitution which empowers National Working Committee to conduct primaries for president, governors, National Assembly, and State Houses of Assembly.”
The former labour leader said he believed that Governor Obaseki would also allow the APC to use its direct mode of primary for the election if the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) could be allowed to organise congresses, involving 5000 delegates at stadium in the midst of new law put in place by the state government.
“In the face of that law, we saw last week, and I’m sure you guys are very vigilant, that the PDP conducted ward congresses to elect their delegates that will go to stadium.
“And with that, you start to reason whether people can gather up to 5000 in a stadium.
“Can you achieve social distancing with 5000 people in one location? Can you rather have a situation where you don’t carry people from villages to the centre?
“If they vote in their respective wards, you will not have more than 100 to 150 persons queuing to vote and maintain social distancing, and wear face masks. So, we will find way round it. He is our governor. We are law abiding.
“But if PDP can conduct activities across 192 wards with the same law, I don’t think our governor will discriminate against his own party.
So, we are hopeful that everything will be peaceful.”
Asked whether the party would not suffer defeat in Edo just as it happened in Benue State where Governor Samuel Ortom left the APC to contest on the PDP platform and won, Oshiomhole said: “All those who decamped with Bukola Saraki, they all lost.
“Those who did not decamp, Bauchi, Adamawa, sitting governors lost. Even Governor Kayode Fayemi, as a sitting governor, was defeated by Fayose.
“So, there’s no evidence that being a sitting governor guarantees you victory, it all depends on the local sentiments in the state.
“I think we need to get away from this fixation.
“Whether in America, Britain or in Nigeria, there are plethora of cases where sitting governors lost, sitting senators left, sitting reps lost.
“There’s no guarantee that if you field somebody because he has incumbency you’ll win.
“Incumbency also has its liability, depending on the sentiment of the people of the state.”
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