APC Governors’ Forum DG accuses Oshiomhole of destroying the party

The Director-General of the Progressive Governors Forum, the umbrella body of governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Salihu Lukman, has accused its National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole of destroying the party.

Lukman, who made the accusation in an August 6 letter addressed to Oshiomhole, also blamed him for the diminishing fortunes of the party.

In the letter titled, “APC: Appeal for Reconciliation,” the governors forum DG queried why superior organs of the party had not been meeting.

Lukman wrote: “As a loyal party member, I have difficulty reconciling the absence of meetings of superior organs, given all the challenges the party is going through, warranting the suspension of three serving governors (two of them now senators) and two members of the NWC.

“My distant observation is that there is hardly any difference between your (Oshiomhole’s) approach to managing the party and the way Chief John Odigie-Oyegun had managed it during his tenure. Instead, things have really got worse and painfully, it would appear that you are in denial of this reality.”

Referring to an earlier letter he wrote to call the attention of the national chairman to the growing problems in the party, Lukman wrote further: “Kindly recall that sometime in June this year (2019), I sent what I called a private memo on the issues of reported disciplinary actions against Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State by the National Working Committee.

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“Of course, the memo noted that before the 2019 elections, the NWC had similarly suspended former governors Rochas Okorocha and lbikunle Amosun of Imo and Ogun states, respectively. Between June and now, Senator Lawal Shuaibu, the APC Deputy National Chairman (North) and Alhaji Inuwa Abdulkadir, the APC Vice-National Chairman (North-West) have also been similarly suspended.

“It will appear that the leadership problems facing the party are getting deeper and in the circumstances the business of building the party will be sacrificed.

“We had challenges that deprived our party the opportunity to contest 2019 election in Rivers, stripped our party of electoral victory in Zamfara, engendered highest levels of leadership animosities in Imo, Ogun, Adamawa, Bauchi, Kano, Ondo, Oyo, etc. Today, with Kogi and Edo governorship elections approaching, similar leadership animosities are defining political life of the party in those states.”

According to Lukman, it has become difficult to reconcile the situation on ground with the decisions and actions taken by Oshiomhole since he became the national chairman of the party.

“It is a painful reality that we have found ourselves in a situation of near-stalemate in many states under your leadership. Embarrassingly, our leaders, including your very self, appear to be stubbornly inconsiderate of other options of resolving these challenges.

“If the electoral loss of Oyo, Imo, Zamfara, Adamawa and Bauchi are not a wake-up call to the dangers that lie ahead, what could have been? Is it that our leaders are indifferent to the possible return of the Peoples Democratic Party?”

He also insisted that the former Edo State governor has not been able to justified why the party dumped Chief John Odigie-Oyegun for him to become the party chairman.

“Some pointers may be helpful in this respect. Many of us who are members of the party could not understand why it took more than two years after winning the 2015 presidential election for Chief Oyegun to convene the meeting of organs of the party, notably, the National Executive Committee and the National Caucus.

“Today, more than four months after winning the 2019 presidential election and almost one year after the last NEC meeting on August 30, 2018 no sign of any meeting in sight. The only organ that is meeting is the NWC”, Lukman said.

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