Amosun, Oshiomhole: The chairman lied
BY TAIWO FAROTIMI
Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State has once again decried what he called the act of injustice perpetrated by Adams Oshiomhole, national chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC in the recent party primaries. In a statement signed by Dayo Adeneye, Commissioner for Information and strategy in the state, Amosun faulted claims by Oshiomhole that he was being criticised for his refusal to sell his conscience.
Apparently reading insinuations of attempts by party leaders at the state levels, particularly governors may have attempted to compromise the chairman, Amosun said: “We state without any fear of equivocation that no one, at least not on the side of Senator Amosun, has requested or expected Oshiomhole to sell his conscience.The least we expect of him is to abide by the rules and guidelines of the APC. Oshiomhole knows, as we know, that in the instance of the last primaries in Ogun State, he has fallen short of the minimum standards of justice, equity and fairness.”
The statement went further to deride the claim by the party chairman as cheap. It reads, “The resort to hiding under the false claims about “conscience and integrity” is cheap.”
According to Amosun, Oshiomhole cannot deny knowledge of the fact that the only legal primaries conducted in the state under the supervision of the panel sent by the national secretariat of the party produced Adekunle Akinlade as governorship candidate along with candidates for other offices. The governor also said Oshiomhole was being dishonest with the claim that only three governors were dissatisfied with the primaries.
The governor alleged that Oshiomhole’s actions has been injurious to the party and the person of President Muhammadu Buhari. Hear him: “In his conduct, Oshiomhole has exhibited disdain for the interest of the APC and that of the National Leader of the party, President Muhammadu Buhari.” It is apparent that the governor is still hurt by the development, thus even when he restated his dedication to the APC, he still maintained the threat that Oshiomhole’s action will have consequences. While saying that he would not allow the chairman’s attitude to affect his loyalty to the party and the president, Amosun said the people of Ogun state would not allow “their state and their patrimony (to be handed over) to a rapacious gang of expansionists in the South West”. Will that not imply a possible protest vote against the party by people of the state?
By this weekend no party would be allowed to tamper with whatever name had been submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. The highest body of the party rose from a meeting Thursday to endorse the list it earlier sent to the electoral umpire. What that means is that except the courts so direct INEC, the fate of Akinlade has been sealed. So are those of the other candidates on the side of the aggrieved governor.
