There were indications at the weekend that governors who were bent on Comrade Adams Oshiomhole’s removal, had soft-pedalled, they are sau.
Although it was gathered that the governors were still insisting on his removal, he would be allowed to resign in order to get a federal appointment.
Multiple sources within the party’s NEC who confided in one of our correspondents, in Abuja, on Sunday, confirmed that Tuesday’s NEC meeting would be held as scheduled.
A NEC member, who spoke on the condition of anonymity said, “We are considering our options and preparing the party to face future beyond Oshiomhole. Governors and major stakeholders are talking, and if you listen to even those supporting him, what they are saying is that, the chairman should not be humiliated out of office.
“Giadom is not acting on his own even when you read through the letter Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu wrote earlier today (Sunday), he acknowledged that much. But his intervention is coming a little bit too late, the train has left the station.
“Without being told, you should know that with the number and calibre of persons who attended the South-South stakeholders’ consultative forum last weekend, this movement to take back our party is not a hoax.
“The man may be simply asked to resign because security reports on him and the fortunes of the party are to the effect that if he retains his seat, mutual suspicion may deepen and hamper the chances of the party going forward.”
Pro-Oshiomhole APC leaders rally support for him
But supporters of Oshiomhole, on Sunday passed a vote of confidence in him.
They spoke at an interactive session held in Abuja. The meeting was convened by a chieftain of the party, Mr Blessing Agbomhere.
Declaring the session open, a former Minister of Works, Chris Ogiemwonyi, said those who were against the APC chairman were those who were beneficiaries of his kind heartedness.
He described Oshiomhole as a protector of the oppressed. Ogiemwonyi explained that he was at the gathering because of the personality of the APC chairman whom he had known as a man who respected the rule of law.
The ex-minister said, “He is a man of courage. I think that is what is lacking in Nigeria. The problem is that once you are doing the right thing, you will step on toes. Comrade Oshiomhole is a victim of doing the right thing. What is happening today is about 2023. Oshiomhole is trying to build the party to make it more attractive for people but some are not happy.”
On his part, the Deputy Leader of the House of Representatives, Peter Akpatason, said, “This is a turbulent period in our party. We have issues both at the state and national levels but we thank God that there are good citizens working to ensure the stabilisation of the party.
“It is not unusual for issues like these to come up when you have contestations but what is important is for people to be reasonable enough to quickly resolve such issues.
“The issues we have today have lingered on maybe because of the wrong approaches to handling them or because of deliberate misinformation by those who have access to the media and who would rather change the narrative.”
A member of the House of Representatives, Julius Ihonvbere, said, “The President has done a lot for the party but in our individual capacities we need to encourage him to do more. He needs to do more. For a party that is not well funded, any issue would affect it greatly.”
Another party stalwart, Nelson Alapa, dismissed Tuesday’s planned emergency NEC as illegal.
He said; “ We must stand on the path of the law. If Oshiomhole leaves and another person comes in, would that solve the problems of the APC?
“Oshiomhole does not want to be the President. We cannot allow this party to scatter just because of the interest of one person. What is the issue? The issue started from Edo State.”
Earlier, the convener of the meeting, Agbomhere said, “The reason why we are here is to join other patriots of this great party, the APC, to intervene in the issues in the party. We are here to interact and provide solutions. We want to make our contributions to the unity and progress of our party because we are concerned about the issues in the party.”
Meanwhile, The Lagos State Chairman of the APC, Mr Tunde Balogun, in an interview said only few self-centred people wanted to remove Oshiomhole.
Balogun, who confirmed that the APC state chairmen would meet on Sunday night to decide whether to attend the NEC meeting on Tuesday, said, “I do not know why a disgruntled few are creating an unnecessary problem for the party. These disgruntled elements are simply selfish. This man was elected for four years for God’s sake by over 7,000 delegates during our national convention. But few self-centred people want to remove him because of their ambition for 2023.
“They do not care if the party splits because their interests are also to scatter the party. For those of us who are committed members of the APC, like my colleagues, we want to ensure that our party will remain stable. We will support Oshiomhole to the end.”
A former Deputy Governor of Edo state, Dr Pius Odubu on Sunday said the crisis rocking the APC would soon be over and Oshiomhole would come out stronger.
Odubu, who was a deputy to Oshiomhole for eight years, said the threat to the APC national chairman office was the handiwork of traducers.
He said his commitment to Oshiomhole’s leadership was “unwavering and unshakable in the face of the very egregious conspiracy of a few party members against him spearheaded by the Edo State Governor.”