- By Kamil Opeyemi
Former Governor of Ogun State, Ibikunle Amosun, has said that former National Chairman of the All Progressive Congress, Adam Oshiomhole was the biggest problem of the APC when he served as its chairman. Amosun said Oshiomhole, now a senator needed to be removed for the party to achieve its electoral success. Amosun’s statement was sequel to the allegation by Oshiomohole that Amosun and former Governor of Ekiti State led the conspiracy to oust him from office as the National Chairman.
Amosun said it was obvious Oshiomhole was merely trying to warm himself into the good book of Tinubu by dragging the name of Buhari into his drama.
This was even as he described the narrative of the Edo senator as a pack of falsehood peddled to amuse the Nigerian public in vain. He said, “It is not in doubt that I have participated fully in the formation and sustenance of our party, the APC, and I can boldly say that the party under Adams Oshiomhole conducted one of the worst primaries in the history of Nigeria’s contemporary politics and ended up shopping for his own enemies, leading to his eventual removal as chairman of our party.
“Nigerians should not be in a hurry to forget the allegations that preceded the conduct of those primaries and his eventual invitation by the Department of State Service to clarify certain grave allegations.
“If he wanted to insult our leader, President Muhammadu Buhari, he could have come out boldly to do so. But his subtle attempt to pass snide remarks at him failed the simple test of loyalty because the former President also moved from his own party to merge with other like-minds to form the APC.
“Also, if he is seeking favour from the Presidency, why not come out and do so? But to tell barefaced lies that, ‘You are working for your paymaster in Lagos, paymaster in Bourdillon,’ is cheap but typical of an individual, who suddenly found himself where he never dreamt of, despite his obvious limitations – education and exposure. This is why I have consistently brushed aside and intentionally scoffed at his tongue-in-cheek apology, which he had extended to me several times. I am now convinced it was not genuine.” NPO Reports that Oshiomhole had spoken at the presentation of a book written by former Deputy National Chairman of the APC, Salihu Lukman. Oshiomhole had alleged, “Lukman wrote several letters, dismissing my leadership without calling me. When you ride on the back of a tiger, there is only one destination. I wrote to the governors for a meeting. The governors said no, I should come to Imo House, not the APC office. He (pointing to Lukman) was there. He did not see anything wrong with that.
“It felt as though I was in a military barrack. But I told them none of you can lecture me about the power of a governor because I have been governor twice. Eight years uninterrupted. At a point, I told Fayemi, ‘You did a resit. You were elected and by the second term, you lost. That means you failed’. I did not do a resit, and you are lecturing me about power. I can mention some of them. “The man in Ogun State (Amosun), he told me if not for the President, he would have left the party. Some of them told me ‘You are working for your paymaster in Lagos. Your paymaster in Bourdillon.’”