Oshiomhole: I worry about what I will be remembered for as APC chairman

Adams Oshiomhole, national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), says he is more worried about what he would be remembered for than on how long he spent as chairman of the ruling party.

Oshiomhole said this after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential villa on Thursday.

A federal high court in Abuja had ordered his suspension on Wednesday and the police took over the APC secretariat after the ruling.

But in a confusing manner, a federal high court in Kano, on Thursday, issued an interim order halting the suspension of Oshiomhole.

In law, a court of co-equal jurisdiction cannot review the judgment of another.

Speaking about the attempt to get him “out at all cost”, Oshiomhole said it is possible that he has made mistakes but there is no human being who is perfect.

“You see in whatever you do, those who want to fight you will fight you. But I know that my tenure will be defined my God not by man. And I worry more about what I will be remembered for when I was chairman rather than how long I was chairman,” he said.

“I am convinced that I have done my very best, mistakes would have been made and I want to see the one person who will say he has never made mistakes. But if there are mistakes of the head, we have the capacity to correct mistakes of the head. But I know I have not set out to make the mistakes of the heart. It is just that by the reason of the position that I occupy, it is not quite appropriate for me to join at this hour in explaining who is responsible for the losses that people point out and they want to heap on my head.”

Oshiomhole said despite some notable achievements of the party under him, his opponents still believe that he has not done enough.

“Even when we have lost some states, I ask you did you see one newspaper that congratulated Oshiomhole when we won in Kogi, Bayelsa before the court took it back?” he asked.

“But look at the narrative, once it goes the other way, if we succeed it is not me, if we lose it is me. I know even in corporate organisations, we have what we call profit and loss account, you have profit and loss that is what is called balance sheet. If you look at my balance sheet, I know I am not the best chairman in the world but I believe I have given my all even at the expense of my family well-being and family life to support my party, to ensure that I work sometimes almost 20 hours a day to ensure that I provide the desired leadership that APC needs.”

He also accused Godwin Obaseki, governor of Edo state, of turning around to hurt him despite playing a key role in his emergence.

Obaseki and Oshiomhole have been having a running battle since the governor indicated interest in another term.

“Let me also say that those behind this plot, the hands you saw which includes as you saw yesterday the Edo state governor and his people jubilating but that is the irony of life. You helped in giving birth to a child and the child looks for cutlass to chop off your neck. It has happened in history, it has happened in this country so I won’t be only person,” he said.

“I am proud to say that I have done my best not only when I was a governor, I have done my best as chairman of this party. I have worked not only along members of the party and with support of the good people of Nigeria for the president to be re-elected, for us to have majority in the two chambers of the national assembly.

“Those fighting me couldn’t deliver even a counselor of a local government in their unit. And they just feel that if they cannot give me orders then they must do everything to embarrass my person, but I believe that he who God stands with no man born of a woman can bring him down.

“I can’t say more than that. Those who are parading themselves, holding meetings at night, my prayer to my God is that let them meet at night. What they do at night will be destroyed by light in the day time. I don’t go for night business I do day business. They know themselves, they know me and I know them.

“And I am proud of the support that I am getting from the ordinary majority of our party and even majority of our leaders.”