You either convene NEC or resign, APC govs tell Oshiomhole

The governors of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) have asked the party’s National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, to either resign or convene a meeting of National Executive Committee (NEC) to resolve all challenges.

The governors, who are operating under the aegis of Progressives Governors Forum (PGF), said in the current circumstance, nothing short of a NEC or National Caucus meeting of the party could resolve all increasing organisational challenges as a party.

“It is either Comrade Oshiomhole respect the provision of party constitution and convene superior organ meeting to deliberate on all our challenges, or he should just accept his inability to manage the party and simply resign,” the NGF Director General, Salihu Mohammed Lukman, said in a statement issued on Wednesday titled “APC and Our Inconceivable Organisational Challenges: Urgent Call to Our Leaders”.

The governors said the party’s national leaders must rise to the challenge facing the APC as a party and take all necessary measures to convene superior organ meetings to begin to resolve all challenges, stressing that “the current public disgrace must end”.

They expressed concern over the current feud between the National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State and the disqualification of its deputy governorship candidate in Beyelsa State.

The governors, who said the efforts should have been made towards vacating the court order disqualifying its candidate, warned against the repeat of its misfortunes in Adamawa, Zamfara, Rivers and Bauchi in Bayelsa, Anambra, Edo and Ondo States with the current development.

They expressed belief that the vacant positions in the National Working Committee (NWC) should have been filled.

The statement read, “Information coming from Edo State indicate that members of the State Executive Council of APC have passed vote of no confidence on Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, National Chairman of our party, APC. In so many respects, it could be argued, it is a natural outcome of unfolding power play between Comrade Oshiomhole and Governor Godwin Obaseki since June 2019 with the contentious inauguration of the Edo State House of Assembly. Possible retaliatory response from both Comrade Oshiomhole and groups such as Edo Peoples Movement who are loyal to Comrade Oshiomhole should be expected. In other words, the could be counter pronouncement suspending Governor Obaseki.

“Side by side with the news of the vote of no confidence was also the discomforting report of the Federal High Court judgement in Abuja disqualifying Biobarakuma Degi-Eremienyo as our Deputy Governorship candidate for the November 16, 2019 Bayelsa election. While expecting that every necessary step will be taken to vacate the judgement, it is very depressing for every committed party member to be subjected to such ignominious reality, which only remind us of our reckless conducts in states like Zamfara, Rivers, Bauchi and Adamawa, which chiefly gave away electoral victories to PDP.

“Instead of focusing on working to win elections, we are busy undermining ourselves. All these are ominous signs that we are about to re-enact the Zamfara, Rivers, Bauchi and Adamawa experiences in Bayelsa. It is Bayelsa today, Anambra, Edo and Ondo are being set up for similar experiences. Somehow, unfortunately, the National Executive Council (NEC) of the party, which is the organ vested with the statutory responsibility of responding to all these challenges appear to be suspended. The last time it met was August 2018. In its place, the National Working Committee (NWC), which is an administrative organ with the responsibility of implementing decisions of NEC and other higher organs seems to have usurped the powers of NEC.

“Sadly, even the NWC, as at today, is a shadow of itself, as it has lost many members either on accounts of appointment into government or controversial suspension. For instance, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, Deputy National Chairman (South) is today a Minister of the Federal Republic. Sen. Lawal Shuaibu, Deputy National Chairman (North) is allegedly suspended. Alh. Inuwa Abdulkadir, National Vice Chairman (North West) is similarly suspended.”

The statement added, “We may recall that in June 2019, the NWC allegedly suspended Governor Rotimi Akeredolu SAN. During the 2019 general elections, on accounts of the roles of former Governors Rochas Okorocha and Ibikunle Amosun against the candidates of the party, they were similarly suspended. Whether all these actions are permissible by provisions of the APC’s constitution is highly contestable.

“Why should all these be allowed to happen? Why is it impossible to convene a NEC or even National Caucus meetings, which are supposed to hold every quarter to resolve all these issues? Why should the NWC under Comrade Oshiomhole continue to imagine that it can conduct affairs of the party without mandatory meetings of party organs? What legacy is Comrade Oshiomhole hoping to achieve as a National Chairman by running the party in a way that suggests almost zero commitment to issues of party development?

“It is very painful for many of us who have had the privilege of being mentored by Comrade Oshiomhole to see him being devalued to a local factional leader from a very high pedestal of an illustrious national leader. As National Chairman, Comrade Oshiomhole hardly appreciate that he now has a national constituency and not just a state constituency, which may have been responsible for his apparent intemperance in the handling of matters affecting Edo State. I wish he paid similar attention to handling of issues affecting Rivers and Zamfara states during the 2019 elections.”