Pascal Arogorn Ibe
The litany of troubles for the erstwhile National Chairman of the All Progressive Congress, (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, may not be over soon, as the Edo State chapter of the party has called on the National Caretaker Committee headed by Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State, to uphold the suspension of former national chairman as a prerequisite for the progress of the party in the state.
The Edo APC, in a statement issued in Benin on Friday and endorsed by the Secretary, Ose Udiamen Edekere, said that the decision was part of the communique issued at the end of the party’s State Executive Committee, SEC, meeting held on September 24, 2020, to review the outcome of the gubernatorial election which held on the 19th of September 2020, where the major factors which led to the abysmal failure of the party to retain its prime position in Edo State were discussed.
According to the statement, the party identified the factors responsible for its failure at the poll to include: “The crisis which was foisted on the Party by Comrade Adams Oshiomhole with the formation of a parallel-group within the Party called the Edo Peoples Movement (EPM) as a Special Purpose Vehicle to take over control of the Party in the State for the sole purpose of removing Godwin Obaseki from office as Governor of Edo State”.
Other factors listed as responsible for such abysmal performance were: “The forced Exit of the incumbent Governor who we had identified as the most valuable asset of the Party in Edo State and for whom the entire officers of the Party had expressed preference as a consensus candidate; the poor choice of a replacement in Pastor Osagie Ize Iyamu who already had a credibility problem in the State earlier created by Comrade Adams Oshiomhole himself and the total disregard and disrespect for the structures of the Party in Edo State by the Candidate of the Party who put Adams Oshiomhole in charge of his campaign as the de facto leader despite the fact of his suspension from the Party”.
It also blamed the failure on “the contemptuous rebuff of the commendable and proactive efforts and recommendations of the Senator Ken Nnamani led Reconciliation Committee by Pastor Ize Iyamu and his inherited band of dissidents”, and the mismanagement of the resources meant to be deployed for the elections by the people saddled with the disbursement.
The Edo APC added that given the factors itemised, it was clear that the campaign effort of the Party in the state was designed to fail, as both Pastor Ize Iyamu and Adams Oshiomhole “erroneously believed that they could prosecute the campaign on the strength of their individual popularity to the exclusion of the entire Party Structure in the state without cognisance of the fact that they had frittered away whatever goodwill they had with the people in the course of their unholy conspiracy against the Governor and the Party”.
The statement lamented that the fact that the leadership of the Party at the National level allowed Oshiomhole to lead the campaign in Edo State to the exclusion of the entire Party apparatus, in spite of his suspended membership status and the disgraceful dissolution of the National Working Committee that he led, “leaves so much to be desired. With due respect, it smacks of gross negligence”.
“In the light of the foregoing, we believe that the National Caretaker Committee must present itself as being serious in its quest to reposition the Party in response to the clear mandate of the National Executive Committee and the yearnings of the teeming members of the Party in Edo State whose confidence in the leadership has been greatly compromised”the statement pointed out.
It urged the committee to exhibit the requisite courage to do all that is necessary and which must be predicated on the provisions of the Constitution of the Party and full obedience to the rule of law”.
“With particular reference to Edo State, the Committee must first enforce the suspension order on Adams Oshiomhole and other persons against whom disciplinary actions have been properly taken by the relevant organs of the Party in the State and Investigate the anti-Party activities of Adams Oshiomhole including the circumstances and procedures that led to the admission of Pastor Osagie Ize Iyamu into the Party having regards to the clear and unambiguous provisions of the Constitution of the Party (as amended)”, the statement demands.
It warned that ” anything short of that will spell doom for the party in the state”.
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