OSHIOMHOLE CRIES OUT, REACTS OVER APC DEFECTORS – (DETAILS)
OSHIOMHOLE
CRIES OUT, REACTS OVER APC DEFECTORS – (DETAILS)
POLITICS
– Latest
report reaching us as the National Chairman of the APC, Adams Oshiomhole, on
Tuesday met with President Buhari a few hours after some members of the party
in the National Assembly dumped the party.
Meanwhile
Oshiomhole told State House correspondents at the end of the meeting with the
President that he and the party were not disturbed by the gale of defection.
He
said, “My attitude is like I have told you before, as the National Chairman, I
am committed to listening to very legitimate grievances and engaging all those
who are aggrieved that we can see through their grievances, but I insist that I
will not miss sleep for one minute over mercenary activities.
“I have
said it and I want to repeat it that this business of governance must be driven
by men and women of honour.
“If the
only motivation is personal interest; ‘what is in it for me?’ ‘What have I
gained?’ and ‘How many people have I done xyz for?’ If that is the basis, the
earlier those in this business of personal gains return to where they belong,
the better.
“This
party that I am privileged to chair is not worried at all, we are not
disturbed. I am not going to miss my sleep and we will go into the campaign.
“Check
the electoral results, you will find that a lot of those who claimed to have
defected, on a good day, the votes they got that made them members of the
Senate, our President got much more votes in their constituencies. So, we are
not fooled at all.
“The
thing going on is that you have a lot of so-called big masqueraders with very
little and no electoral value.”
Oshiomhole
said he had tried his best in trying to give comfort to those who claimed to be
aggrieved.
He
however said he would not appease those who had other hidden agendas that were
not negotiable.
He said
those under such category were those who expected a level of personal return
and the system was not delivering.
The
party chairman said he was happy that over time, water would find its level.
He added, “If you remember what I said the day I formally declared my interest to contest; I said to be a progressive party means we must be clear that it cannot be a party for everyone.
“We
have to be sure that you subscribe to the values and ideals of a progressive
party. If indeed you belong to the extreme right, and you mistakenly find
yourself in a progressive party, obviously that is not where you belong.
“As
soon as you realise that you can’t adjust to the requirement of the
progressive, which is people-driven, people-based, people-oriented and you
choose to return to the right wing where you know that the name of the game is,
share the money, it is your choice.”
On the
adjournment of Senate plenary, Oshiomhole said it was their choice if the
lawmakers found it more politically convenient to suspend the process of
legislation ahead of time because it was not convenient for their political
interests.
He also
said he was not privy to the circumstances surrounding the reported siege at
the houses of the Senate President and Deputy Senate President, hence he could
not comment on it.
“To be
very honest with you, it is better you formalise where you belong and be
properly identified by your father’s name than purporting to bear my name and
you are working for my opponent.
“Every
observer knows that there has been opposition to this APC government, that
opposition has come within the ranks of members of the APC, some in the
National Assembly.
“I
mean, how can we be in the majority for example and we use that majority to
elect opposition to take the number two slots in our own party? How could we
have been in the majority and the President makes nominations and those
nominations are lying on the floor of the Senate and the Senate will not
confirm those nominations?
“Even
if that Senate was formally led by the opposition, the issue will be much
clearer. But they have become much more complicated when those refusing to
confirm the nominees purport to be members of our party. The earlier everybody
properly identifies where he belongs in my view, the better.
“It is
not in anybody’s interest, certainly not in the national interest that we
continue to patch this democracy in a way that birds that are incompatible find
themselves in the same nest.
“The
point I have been trying to make is that we need to build a political party
that goes beyond the platform for election. So, if you find that you can’t win
because there is somebody in your constituency in the same party then you jump
to other party so that you can win. And once the election is over we wait for
the next four years, that’s not good enough,” he added.
