APC chairman Oshiomhole to face further DSS grilling when he returns from holiday in the US

ALL Progressives Congress (APC) chairman Adams Oshiomhole will face further interrogation by the Department of State Services (DSS) when he returns from the US as the pressure to remove him by several party stalwarts mounts.

Earlier this week, Mr Oshiomhole was grilled by DSS detectives for several hours over allegations levelled against him by some aggrieved party members. After the ordeal, he decided to take a holiday and flew to the US with his wife but those demanding his head have not given up yet.

Over the last few weeks, the APC has been wracked with internal divisions as a result of its divisive gubernatorial and parliamentary primary elections. Across many states, there were complaints about some candidates being imposed on the party, especially by governors who ignored the results of the primaries and proceeded to forward the names of their preferred candidates to APC headquarters in Abuja.

Some governors are also unhappy with the party chairman for refusing to rubber stamp their candidate selections and even met in Abuja to plot his removal.  Governors Rochas Okorocha of Imo State and Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State in particular at incensed at the fact that their anointed successors were not selected by the party as its gubernatorial candidates.

However, Mr Oshiomhole insisted that the party would not bend its rules for the personal interest of some influential members. President Muhammadu Buhari is aware of the investigation of the party chairman and former Edo State governor by the DSS after being briefed by its director-general Yusufi Bichi.

However, President Buhari told the DSS to go ahead and do their jobs when he was briefed about the allegations against the party chairman. Earlier this week, the DSS grilled Mr Oshiomhole for about nine hours between Sunday and Monday before he travelled out of the county.

One DSS source said: “Oshiomhole is expected to return  for further interrogation when he returns to the country, that’s why we released him on administrative bail. We are still looking at his statements and also carrying out further investigations but this type of operation is not meant for the members of the public.

“Rather, we will brief the president when the report is ready.  Oshiomhole is the national chairman of the president’s political party, so he deserves to know our report first.”

Meanwhile, the director-general of the Voice of Nigeria, Osita Okechukwu, has urged the DSS to probe Mr Oshiomhole’s call logs for the period the party’s primaries lasted. He also called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to join the DSS in looking into the financial transactions made by the party chairman within the period under review.

Mr Okechukwu argued that recent revelations about the national chairman’s grilling by the DSS over allegations of financial impropriety were sufficient reasons for him to resign. He added that the APC and the president would be the better for it if the chairman stood down to allow the party to go into the 2019 election season with its credibility intact.