The Governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu has declared the chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, as ‘incompetent’ and unfit to rule the party.
In a statement issued by his Senior Special Adviser on Special Duties and Strategy, Doyin Odebowale, on Wdenesday, the governor said recent events have thrown up Oshiomhole’s incompetence.
Insisting though that he had no hands in any attempted removal the party’s chairman, Akeredolu, in the statement accused Oshiomhole of exhibiting incompetence in the handling of the party’s recently concluded primaries across the country which he described as a “political charade” and a revelation of “a shocking proclivity towards banditry and impunity.”
He also insisted that recent events have justified his opposition to Oshiomhole’s election as party chairman and that those who felt aggrieved reserve the right to demand justice, including calling for Oshiomhole’s removal.
Making reference to the protest in Abuja on Tuesday, he labelled the organisers as “opportunists,” even as he denied reports that he led governors of Ogun, Kaduna, Adamawa and Ekiti States against Oshiomhole’s leadership.
The statement quoted him as saying that he found the report laughable and distracting, stressing that as a “fiercely independent personality,” he was not about to change his attitude to please any person or a group of persons.
The statement further recalled the governor’s “noble interventions as Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) president at critical moments in the cause of the progressives,” including in restoring Oshiomhole’s stolen mandate.
Part of the statement read: “The governor had expressed preference for someone else during the contest for the office of the Chairman of the Party.
“Akeredolu did not hide his opposition to Oshiomole’s aspiration for the simple reason that the leadership of a party, especially the one just emerging from a merger, should distance itself from egregious and inherently destructive narcissism.
“Recent events seem to justify this position as prescient. Only sycophants will fail to see the obvious. Mr President would not have expressed worries over the crises in the party if everything had gone on smoothly.
READ ALSO: 2019: APC perfects rigging plans with INEC – Secondus
“The handlers of the mob strive in vain to set the President against certain government functionaries considered antagonistic to their pernicious scheme for dominance.
“Their devious plot to outsmart those perceived as opposing their expansionist tendency compelled them to take desperate measures. Anyone endowed with an attitude of sobriety should have seen the need for calm.
“Rather than retrace their steps and display genuine contrition, their desperation pushes them to embrace measures capable of not only hurting the party, but, regrettably, the president, whom they pretend to love so much.
“Those who collected varying and humongous amounts as fees from aspirants during the last grandiose charade called primaries and submitted names dictated to them by a cabal, notorious for capturing political power for unbridled pillage, should be bold to explain their real motives to the people. They should be honest enough to deal with the issues.
“Events, which took place across the country during the political charade, have exposed not only sheer incompetence on the part of the national leadership of the party, but painfully, it has revealed a shocking proclivity towards banditry and impunity.
“It is becoming clear, increasingly, that party leadership at that level is seriously challenged in terms of capacity for serious engagements.
“Arakunrin Akeredolu, SAN, does not need to move from ‘North’ to ‘South’ to collect signatures from victims of electoral heist. He was in Ondo State throughout last week.
“He was at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife, to deliver a lecture on restructuring a few days ago. He is presently in Canada on a working visit.
“Only the mob and their hirers can explain the imagined movement from North to South. However, those who feel aggrieved reserve the right to demand that justice be done. If this includes the removal of Oshiomole, so be it.
“May we seize this opportunity to reiterate the fact that the people of Ondo State are favourably disposed to the second term bid of Mr President.
“Our people are unique; they are unwavering in their support for justice. They alone determine what is in their best interest at all times. The President is loved by the people of Ondo State.
“All of us shall work, assiduously, for the President’s victory at the polls next year. We do not need any band of mendicants ready for hire to remind us of this sacred patriotic duty.”
