The immediate past governor of Edo state, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, has publicly declared his intention to succeed his kinsman and also a former governor of the state, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, as national chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The former labour leader who made the declaration ahead of the party’s forthcoming national convention, also vouched not to allow himself to be used as willing tools by anybody if he given the job. Oshiomhole also claimed that unlike other past leaders, the incumbent President, Muhammadu Buhari, “is not a thief.”
He made his positions known just as the Imo state Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, expressed the belief that President Buhari needed not campaign in the North to win in 2019. Announcing his bid yesterday, at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja, Oshiomhole pledged that if given the opportunity as the next APC chair, he would rebrand the party to a more acceptable platform.
He said: “The skill to negotiate, the skill to persuade, the skill to make consensus, the skill to do give and take, the skill to talk through a process that will lead to winwin solutions rather than the winners and the losers, those are the tools I have deployed as a branch union leader, and becoming the president of the Nigeria Labour Congress. “So, I am not a stranger. I believe that the idea of the constitution and the spirit behind it, has been deliberately framed in such a way that no one will have his ways, but all, we can have our ways if we negotiate, persuade, discuss and have a sense of collectivity as we move on.”
Comparing President Buhari to other past leaders, the APC national chairmanship aspirant said, “the worst critic will agree that the president is not a thief. That for me is the starting point, and we will challenge others. “I am confident that Nigerians are ready to progress and our party is ready to mend where we have made mistakes, and re-energise and confront the problems that confront our country and bearing in mind that the entire black world looks unto us.
We have what it takes to provide that leadership that Africa will be proud of and we shall be a reference point.” Okorocha endorses bid Endorsing Oshiomhole’s bid, Governor Okorocha said, that “Oshiomole is coming in as national chairman of APC is bad news to other political parties. Adams Oshiomole is a dogged fi ghter, a man who can face challenges, and I have no doubt that you will strengthen APC when elected.” Speaking on some alleged injustices within APC, Okorocha said the era of “monkey dey work, baboon dey chop is over in the party”.
