Oshiomhole: Buhari has right to his choice – APC, Ganduje

All Progressives Congress (APC) has said that President Muhammadu Buhari is entitled to his opinion on the endorsement of former governor of Edo state, Adams Oshiomhole, as the next national chairman of the party. The party also said there was the possibility that the congresses and national convention “may be shifted in view of observations made by some of the governors that the time-table was too tight and made no room for errors.” Also speaking, Kano state Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, corroborated the party’s position, but added that President Buhari’s endorsement of Oshiomhole “will not foreclose the ambitions of other chairmanship aspirants.” Blueprint, however, gathered that the incumbent APC National Chairman, Chief John Oyegun, had been forced to drop his re-election bid by “some forces within the party.”
Addressing newsmen shortly after a closed door meeting between the APC governors and the Chief John Oyegun-led National Working Committee at the party’s national secretariat, Abuja, yesterday, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Malam Bolaji Abdullahi, said Buhari’s meeting with some governor on Tuesday night was personal. Breifing newsmen on what transpired at the meeting Abdullahi said: “The meeting was called to emphasise to the state governors the need to ensure that congresses were held in a very transparent manner and that there are free and fair.
“We are aware that some governors have been making statements which we believe are giving the impression that we don’t intend to hold congresses in particular states.
So the meeting was to emphasis to go the governors that we want congresses in a very transparent manner and ensure that the processes are free and fair.” Speaking president Buhari’s endorsement of Oshiomhole, Governor Ganduje said: “There is no imposition at all; everybody is free to contest just as everybody is free to hold an opinion on who should lead the party.
I think that there is no case of imposition because it is not a guideline and not part of the Constitution. “Just like every other person, Mr. President has the right to air his opinion but that does not mean he should stop any person who will like to contest from contesting. Mr. President’s opinion is not constitutional and it is not a non-constitutional opinion as well. “He just voiced out his thought which will serve as a guideline to some and otherwise to some.
The issue of being undemocratic does not even arise. There is what we call guided democracy and we regard what Mr. President said as such. If that is what will make the party stable and avoid the fallout after the convention like we saw in the PDP, it will be better for us,” he said. Meanwhile, a source close to the meeting has confided in our correspondent that “the incumbent National Chairman (Oyegun) has been banned from seeking reelection in order not to cause disaffection within the party.”
Speaking on the plan to shift the convention date, the party’s spokesman said: “The observation was that the timetable, as currently constituted, was determined because of the Ramadan and we want to be sensitive to the feelings of Muslims who will be fasting during Ramadan and we wanted to, as much as possible, avoid conducting any political activity during the period of Ramadan.
“There were other observations and so, there is the possibility that the timetable may be reviewed. That is not decided yet, but it was agreed that the NWC will take a second look of the timetable and see the possibility for adjustment.

 

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