Guber Screening: Edo APC Leaders Launch Rebellion Against Oshiomhole

Some leading stakeholders in the Edo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC have sent a petition to the national leadership of the party over alleged efforts by Senator Adams Oshiomhole to abort the process to nominate the party’s candidate for the forthcoming governorship election.

The stakeholders in a statement made available to GWG.ng particularly frowned at the move to select six aspirants to contest the primary even at a time that the deadline for the purchase of the governorship forms has not been concluded.

The stakeholders under the aegis of Concerned Edo APC Stakeholders as such asked the national chairman of the party, to ensure that Oshiomhole is removed from the process given what they claimed as his bias.

The petition was endorsed by Dr. Atsikidi Leonard, Hon. Engr. Dako Elamai, Barr. Bayo Omo-Igeh, Hon. Besta Ozeoya, Chief Vincent Ifada and Hon. Martins Eromosele.

Other APC leaders who endorsed the petition against Oshiomhole included Hon. Abu Momodu, Hon. Desmond Ugbo, Hon. Tony Osazuwa and Pastor Stanley Dave Ighodaro

They wrote:

It is important to note that the APC National Working Committee (NWC) recently released the Edo State Guber election timetable and subsequently approved the direct mode of primary election to select the party’s flag bearer. The sales of expression of interest and nomination forms commenced on January 10 and will end on January 29.

In line with the NWC’s guidelines, a consultative meeting was held with stakeholders of the party from Edo State on Monday, January 15, 2024. During the meeting, the stakeholders were urged to unite in trimming the number of aspirants due to the large number of individuals vying for the party’s ticket in Edo State.

 The APC State leader, Comrade Senator Adams Oshiomhole,  set up a Six man committee to interface with the aspirants and make recommendations on how the number could be reduced. The committee was not a screening committee as that is the prerogative of the APC National Working Committee.

Edo people were shocked when the news broke out that this Oshiomhole committee had initially recommended ten names among the aspirants and on meeting with Comrade Oshiomhole was told to further remove some names and make the total six.

We would like to State for the records that Comrade Senator Adams Oshiomhole does not have the authority to constitute a screening committee as he is neither the National Chairman of the All Progressive Congress nor a member of the NWC. Furthermore, only aspirants who have completed and submitted their forms can be screened by the committee established by the NWC for this purpose.

The scheduled date for the screening of aspirants, as outlined in the approved timetable by the NWC, is between 8th and 9th February 2024. The Oshiomhole committee unlawfully assumed the functions of the NWC and were unfortunately coerced  by Comrade Oshiomhole  to submit a report in variance of their earlier recommendation which is in the public domain.

We hereby call on the national chairman of the APC, H.E Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and other well-meaning party leaders in Edo State and across Nigeria, to intervene and restrain Comrade Senator Adams Oshiomhole and his co-travelers. The APC in Edo State should not be plunged into unnecessary crisis ahead of the 2024 governorship election.

It is worth noting that Comrade Senator Adams Oshiomhole’s previous usurpation of nomination powers, as witnessed in the nomination of Godwin Obaseki and Philip Shuaibu as Governor and Deputy Governor respectively in 2016, resulted in the party’s opposition status in Edo State today. It is evident that he intends to repeat this indelible error in 2024.

It is common knowledge that Comrade Senator Adams Oshiomhole has a personal interest on who becomes the Edo State Governor. We, therefore, reject Comrade Senator Adams Oshiomhole’s undue influence and demand that he stays clear of the Edo 2024 APC governorship primaries.

The Concerned APC Stakeholders remain committed to the principles of fairness, equity, and justice in the party and sincerely hope that this matter can be resolved amicably for the betterment of the APC and the people of Edo State.

GWG.ng reports that before the petition by the Edo APC stakeholders that the party chairman had earlier rebuffed the allegations levelled against Oshiomhole.

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