APC governors want Oshiomhole out – State Chairman

The chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State, Anselm Ojezua, has said that governors elected under the APC platform do not have sympathy for the national chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole.

“The governors don’t have sympathy for him, but somehow, they do not want to be seen as leading the vanguard against him,” Mr Ojezua said in an interview published on Friday by Daily Independent.

Mr Ojezua said the governors expect Mr Oshiomhole “to read in between the lines and do what is honourable”.

“I don’t see him (Oshiomhole) surviving,” he added.

The APC State chairman spoke on the rowdy session at the recent national executive council meeting of the party in Abuja. “He (Oshiomhole) would not allow the meeting to take place. What we saw was just a charade,” he said.

Mr Ojezua is an ally of the Edo governor, Godwin Obaseki who is locked in a fierce political battle with Mr Oshiomhole, a former governor of the state.

The political fight between the two leaders has led to a factional crisis in Edo APC and the state assembly.

A Benin High Court last week restrained a faction of APC loyal to Mr Oshiomhole from removing Mr Ojezua as the state chairman of APC.

Mr Ojezua’s faction recently announced the ‘suspension’ of Mr Oshiomhole from APC in the state.

Several people believed to be loyal to Mr Oshiomhole have either been relieved of their positions in the state or suspended from the party to weaken the APC national chairman’s grip on the party politics in the state.

More than 10 of the elected state lawmakers, who are yet to be inaugurated, are currently on self-exile in Abuja reportedly for fear of their safety in Edo.

There is fear that the crisis may affect the fortunes of the party in the governorship election in Edo next year.

‘Oshiomhole needs to go now’

Mr Ojezua, in his interview with Daily Independent, made reference to Mr Oshiomhole’s ‘suspension’.

“Once you lose the confidence of your people; you lose the confidence of your colleagues, you lose the confidence of key members of the party, what moral justification do you have to lead?

“If your people said they have suspended you from their membership, do you really have the legitimacy to conduct the affairs of the party as an officer? I think these are some of the main questions that people should ask. Can you function as an officer if your membership has been suspended?” he said.

“The rule of the party is that you have to be suspended from your ward; that has been done; it has been decided at the local government and state levels.

“What moral, legal or constitutional justification does he have to retain or function in the office, when his own people have expressed their lack of confidence in him? That is the issue. It is that lack of confidence that led to suspension. So, if they are looking at the legitimacy or legality of the suspension, can they also question the lack of confidence?”