The All Progressives Congress (APC) held its National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting on Friday November 22, 2019 amidst tension arising from the crisis between the National Chairman of the party, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and his governor in Edo State, Mr Godwin Obaseki.

Some of APC governors were backing their colleague against the national chairman and that created a lot of anxiety among members of the party. Beside the Edo crisis Oshiomhole appeared not to be in the good books of those affected by the the discipline he was instilling in the party. The party primaries before the 2019 election had pitched him against many of those who lost or failed to influence their preferred aspirants

Oshiomhole had fallen out with his successor. Obaseki had distanced himself and the state government from some of the foot soldiers and party men that played huge roles in elections on the basis of style and principle, saying that he needed to work for Edo people and not a few politicians. Oshiomhole feared that his style could affect the party, arguing that he could run the government his own way and still accommodate party men. They differed and this gave rise to the party crisis in Edo. The crisis is now a strong factor in the 2020 governorship election in Edo.

Before the NEC meeting commenced last week, APC members were divided. There were governors who wanted Oaseki to be given the party ticket and there were those who insisted political solution must be reached first before that could be effected. They were on the side of Oshiomhole. A governor from the North led the Oshiomhole group while a governor from the South West campaigned for Obaseki. There were issues in the caucus meeting held at the Presidential Villa 24 hours before the NEC meeting. The house was divided. Some NEC members were being lobbied to vote for the removal of Oshiomohle at the NEC meeting the following day. We gathered that the South South and South East members were against the removal of Oshiomohle. There were members from the North and some from the South that wanted Oshiomhole out but they were in minority. But that didn’t end the plot. Scheming continued for the removal of the party chairman.

However, at the caucus meeting, Oshiomhole informed the members about the progresses and problems of the party and lamented the activities of some leaders of the party in some of the states where the party lost. Two of the anti Oshiomhole governors raised the issue of the crisis in Edo and they promised to raise it at the NEC. On Friday, the D-Day, Oshiomhole exhibiting his oratorical prowess seemed to have intimidated his adversaries. He welcomed all the NEC members and outlined progresses and failures recorded by the party so far. He equally expressed joy over the victory of the President, Muhammadu Buhari at the Supreme Court just as he hailed the party for the victories in Kogi and Bayelsa State. The National Chairman used the opportunity to showcase the achievements made by the party under him which obviously enthused his supporters at the meeting.

His words: “Today’s meeting is extremely important because it is the first meeting we are having after the emergency meeting we had on February 18th 2019. On that occasion I am sure most of us who are here will recall that we were so tensed up because few hours to the commencement of the general elections, INEC suddenly announced the postponement of the election. Meanwhile most of us had gone to our various villages preparing to vote for our President. Most Nigerians would not believe that as a governing party, such a thing would happen without us having a privileged information.

“We have not solved all the problems, no one government will. But there can be no question that the President has provided leadership to tackle head on, three critical issues that have bogged down the Nigerian nation. The economy, security and war against corruption. As you can see Mr President, they delayed the election but they could not delay our victory. Mr President, you were re-elected overwhelmingly this time with a higher margin of about four million, compared to the three million margin that you had in 2015. That same day, the Nigerian electorate also elected more members of the senate and members of the House of Representatives on APC platform. Mr President, I also believe, it is significant to point out that all those who rebelled against this party, who sought to bring us down, who decamped at a critical moment believing that decamping would destabilize us and we would not have enough time to make up, the likes of Senator Bukola Saraki know better now. He and fifteen others, all 16 of them, by the special grace of God, the Nigerian electorate chose to punish them with their PVCs. And they were all voted out. And APC senators were voted in to replace them. There is one that is still struggling but as we speak he is at 20,000 fit below ground level and he is hoping that there will be miracle that will bring him to ground level and then climb the tree to the senate. But by the special grace of God and under your leadership, I believe that by the end of the month, the 16th stubborn one will go the way of the other 15 when the re-run in Kogi state senatorial election is done. That for me is remarkable.

“Because the message is clear, that time will come when anyone who used the popularity of a particular political party, in this case even those who rode on the back of Mr President to win election, turned round to monetize it and decamp they will pay the price. They used that same power to attack not only the Presidency but to attack the institution of our party. I think those lessons will linger for quite some time”.

He lamented however that “We could not field any candidate in Zamfara state even though we had won all the elections. In Oyo state we also lost, we also lost Bauchi, Adamawa state. the issue of Bauchi, Adamawa, these are states we had sitting governors, looking at the results and listening to our officers in those states, it is very clear that the loss can easily be attributed to internal fighting within the party in those respective states leading to internal sabotage. I think the lesson to learn from it is that no matter how aggrieved we are, the worst of our candidate emerging for an election is to be preferred to an angel emerging as an opposition in the states which you function. It is my prayer that going forward, our leaders will recognize that once primaries are done, everybody cannot win, the spirit of party calls for commitment to stand by whoever prevails however imperfect the process may be. We also fought election in Sokoto against one of those governors that decamped, we believe we have gotten judgment so far but we have not gotten justice. We also believe that if INEC had applied the same frame, Sokoto would have been one of us today. We have not given up, we are still going to the Supreme Court. We have confidence that we will get justice. We also thought we will win in Akwa Ibom State, Delta State, Taraba, Imo and Abia states. There are others, but these ones I believe, our members fighting against incumbency in those states put up a tough fight. If the process was fair, we believe we could have won. We still believe that one day we will be able to win in those states.

“Mr President, I have chosen to amplify where we lost but we have also made some gains that are quite outstanding. I am sure it gladdens the heart of every APC member that the man who led rebellion against our party, Bukola Saraki, the former senate President, that the people of Kwara state, did not only deny him a return to the senate, they also voted out every element in PDP and today from the governorship, senate, House of Reps and House of Assembly we won everything. I think our victory in Kwara state was most outstanding. We also won in Gombe state, with an incumbent PDP governor, our people enjoying heavily Mr President’s good will, we won in Gombe state and today it is governed by APC governor. I believe that until these issues are resolved particularly those of them that will go up to Supreme Court level, God willing, I believe that by the time we are done we have a chance of winning some of these cases before the Supreme Court. But Mr President we have also gone through a rather stressful judicial process due to the fact that the opposition decided to challenge your victory. But the Supreme Court proclaimed that contrary to the claim by our opponent as regards the qualification of our President, the court says our President is eminently qualified.

“We have an unassuming Young man who was elected as our governor in Bayelsa State. He is a lion that not only dominates the forest, he dominates the creeks and the water ways and I am sure David Lyon our governor elect will be a good factor in dealing with the security issues around that part of the country” he said.

Responding, before the business session, President Buhari who was seated with his Vice,Prof.Yemi Osibanjo, President of the senate, Ahmed Lawan, Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege and others, shocked Oshiomhole’s adversaries in his speech, when the President hailed what he described as “Oshiomhole’s energy in managing the party” and stressed the need for the supremacy of the party and discipline. President Buhari who apparently was speaking to those opposed to the National Chairman admonished that : “The most important thing is for every member of NEC to re-position yourselves or ourselves to ensure that you dominate your constituencies politically. The aim is that history will not be fair to us quite frankly if the APC collapses at the end of this term. History will be fair to us if the APC remains strong, then people will reflect with nostalgia that once upon a time the APC made a lot of sacrifices, worked very hard. The sacrifices are physical, material and moral to make sure that we maintain the leadership politically. This is what we should all aim at and make sure that our constituencies are proud of us and follow us towards this great objective.

“The chairman (Oshiomhole) has tried to disclose our performance during the last elections. We lost Imo, Bauchi, Sokoto, Zamfara, I will like you in your constituencies to make sure that you read the constitution of the party and you understand it. You must make sure that the people you elected will be responsible from polling units, to wards, Local Governments, states, to Federal are respected in their respective constituencies. This is the only way we can make this party survive and this is the only way history will be fair to us. If for any other reason you divide the party in any constituency and we fail, then be prepared that history will not recognize you as a leader in your area”.

Urging the NEC members to respect the party and its constitution, President asserted that “ I am the President but the APC is incharge. Because I am concerned about history, because haven been a governor, a Minister, Head of State, I attempted the presidency four times before I succeeded, gone to the Supreme Court four times, so I don’t think any Nigerian has anything to tell me, I have gone through all of them. So we must all work very hard anywhere we find ourselves to make sure that APC becomes a model. I said you should read the constitution, because I am not going to make mistakes. Beside the age, I took an oath to go by the constitution and the constitution says two terms and I will follow the constitution. The chairman has just mentioned, all those who left us in the senate, about 16 of them never returned. This means our people know what they are doing. I don’t think we have the money to give them, or buy the votes, I have insisted on free and fair election and that is why I visited the 36 states of the nation campaigning for votes. And what I saw, I was very impressed with the support I received. They are more than what anybody can pay or force. And I will like to maintain that, respect and appreciation of our people till the end of 2023 and I hope to hand over to an APC candidate. So Mr chairman (looking at Oshiomhole), I respect your energy and I congratulate you for what you are doing”. The President’s comment elicited loud ovation from supporters of Oshiomhole to the chagrin of those who had planned to vote him out. It was clear that President Buhari had nailed it for Oshiomhole.

After the President’s address, journalists were excused so the NEC could start its business session. At this point, Oshiomhole asked the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio to leave the hall since he is not a NEC member. The former Akwa Ibom governor protested, arguing that he was a former governor. But the national chairman lectured him that former governors are not NEC members but sitting governors. Akpabio left the hall. It was learnt that this first action by Oshiomhole demoralized his adversaries who it was learnt had chosen Akpabio to lead the onslaught against the National Chairman. It was learnt that Akpabio’s interest was to control the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) despite the fact that the members of the Commission had been screened by the senate and were supposed to have resumed their work. But Akpabio decided to set up a committee. This had pitched him against Oshiomhole and other leaders of the Niger Delta. As a result of this, Akpabio decided to pitch tenth with the anti Oshiomhole APC members. But as it appeared, President Buhari’s comment gave an insight to those opposed to Oshiomhole, that the President would not tolerate any attempt to undermine the position of the national chairman. None of them could muster the courage to raise any issue against the National Chairman. The meeting went on peacefully and most of the issues regarding to the finance of the party were referred to the Finance Committee by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha. Yekini Nabena, the Deputy National Publicity Secretary moved the motion for adjournment and it was seconded and the meeting ended.

That was how the rebellion against Oshiomhole was outdone at the NEC meeting last week. (Saturday Vanguard)