Adams Oshiomhole
Adams Oshiomhole, National Chairman of the All Progressives
Congress (APC), has been in the news recently but not for good reasons.
It was reported by various news platforms early this week that the
former Edo State Governor was grilled on Sunday by the Department of
State Services (DSS) over allegations of financial impropriety.
Oshiomhole, whose reign as National Chairman of the ruling party has
been stormy, is now in the eye of the storm.
These may be five possible reasons for his present ordeal.
The Manner Of His Emergence, Sorry Imposition
Though Oshiomhole emerged through what seemed like a
unanimously-decided election, he was chosen through a voice vote after
all other candidates who had initially wanted to contest against had
withdrawn from the race. Therefore, Abubakar Badaru, who presided over
the APC convention, sought Oshiomhole’s affirmation during what ended up
a ‘convention’ rather than an ‘election’. However, it is believed that
his three opponents — Professor Osareimen Osunbor, Clement Ebri and
Ibrahim Emokpai — were forced to pull out of the race before the
convection. It is believed that though they accepted the decision to
impose Oshiomhole, his emergence did not go down with them. And it is
believed that some of them have turned into fifth columnists within the
party working tirelessly to make his tenure difficult or a fiasco.
Oshiomhole’s ‘Aluta’ Style of Administration
Oshiomhole, former President of the Nigerian Labour Congress
(NLC), forged his reputation in the furnance of activism and he is used
to intransigence and talking tough. It is believed in some quarters of
the ruling party that the man, despite having ruled for eight years as
Governor of Edo State, is yet to learn the art of diplomacy. They
believe he is yet to know that there is a clear-cut difference between
activism (colloquially ‘aluta’ in this part of the world) and pure
collectivism, which is the nub of being a political leader. This style
of leadership is believed to have driven a wedge between the party
loyalists who support Oshiomhole and those who don’t. It is even said
that Oshiomhole’s emergence contributed to the emergence of N-PDP in
APC.
The Contentious APC Primaries
The most conspicuous of all the reasons for Oshiomhole’s
predicament is his alleged role in the emergence of certain candidates
in the just concluded APC primaries across the country. The assumption
that he worked against the anointed candidates of some governors is
furlling anger in some party leades, who are now bent on removing
Oshiomhole as National Chairman. Chief among Oshiomhole’s detractors are
Governor Ibikunle Amosu of Ogun State, whose candidate Adekunle
Akinlade has been dropped for Dapo Abiodun; Rochas Okorocha of Imo
State, whose preferred successor who doubles as his son-in-law, Uche
Nwosu, was overlooked in the controversial APC primary election in
favour of Hope Uzodimma and Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo, who has a running
battle with Tinubu, major supporter and sponsor of Oshiomhole’s
chairmanship candidature. Why Amosun has denied having a hand in
Oshiomhole’s predicament, it may be that threats by Okorocha and others
were not empty, after all.
The ‘Weak’ Presidency Is Fighting Back
You may be wondering why the presidency is involved despite its
seeming rosy relationship with Oshiomhole, but it will be recalled that
earlier this year, while threatening to expel the Minister of Labour and
Productivity, Dr. Chris Ngige, Oshiomhole had described President
Muhammadu Buhari as weak for condoning indiscipline from his cabinet
members. This did not go down well with the presidency. According to a
source in the presidency, “The President was not happy with the comment
of the APC Chairman because it portrayed him as inefficient”. The
presidency may be seizing on the opportunity to get back at Oshiomhole.
This is buttressed by subsequent reports that the President was aware of
Oshiomhole’s grilling by the Department of State Services (DSS) and
even gave the body a go-ahead.
Vengeance By Frmer APC Senators
It is believed that Oshiomhole’s attack-dog style of governance
forced some people out of the APC, particularly the gale of defection
from APC to PDP that swept across the National Assembly. And they are
wasting no time too to have Oshiomhole’s scalp. According to reports,
they are asking the DSS to investigate Oshiomhole because he is a
Nigerian citizen and no above the law.
Dirty Primaries, Dirty Cash
It is not only that the APC primaries yielded controversial
results, there are huge questions about the exact reason some candidates
were preferred to others. Investigations by SaharaReporters revealed
that aspirants paid between N15 million and N50 million to secure the
tickets for the various elective positions during or at the end of
primaries that a party member has described as “dirty”. In the end,
Oshiomhole, his Chief of Staff, Ibrahim Abbas and National Treasurer,
Adamu Panda were the ones behind the last-minute substitution of the
candidates’ names, hours before the submission. Says a lot about the
destinations of the various sums, and about why Oshiomhole is in serious
trouble.
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Source: SaharaReporters