Chairmen of APC state chapters pass vote of confidence in national chairman Adams Oshiomhole

ADAMS Oshiomhole has received a vote of confidence from the 36 chairmen of the state chapters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on response to recent attacks on him by several high ranking party members.

Since the last elections, APC national chairman Oshiomhole has been attacked by several part bigwigs, especially governors who he did not allow to anoint their chosen successors. Mr Oshiomhole also insisted that all state chapters of the party should hold primaries, which did not go down well with several godfathers who saw it as an erosion of their authority and accused him of meddling.

Earlier this month, Senator Lawal Shuaibu, the APC's national deputy chairman, north, had accused Mr Oshiomhole of running a one-man show and called on him to step aside. However, in response, the state chairmen described what they called public disparagement of the party’s national chairman as an unconscionable distraction borne out of complete misconception of the reforms and specifically, the principle of loyalty to the party

In a communique issued at the end of a meeting between the state chairmen and the National Working Committee (NWC), the 36 chairmen said they were opposed to calls for Mr Oshiomhole to resign, restating their  support for his reforms. The communique was personally signed by 20 state chairmen of the party, cutting across the geo-political zones.

It read: “Comrade Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole stepped into the saddle in June last year and hit the ground running by embarking on sweeping reforms that centered on party discipline and supremacy. He galvanised and led the NWC with commitment and sharp focus on greater philosophical ideals of rebuilding the party and raising the party another notch.

“In line with his credo of fairness to leadership and membership of the party, the NWC, under his leadership, ensured a level-play field in the primary elections that largely returned the party to the people.  He led the NWC with a single purpose of dismantling the culture of impunity and imposition of anointed candidates at the expense of the vast majority of party members by some overbearing state governors.

“Oshiomhole provided leadership that encouraged the APC candidates to go into the 2019 general election with assurance and great hope. Realising the pains and strains that usually accompany reforms and change, we are satisfied with the level of success that our party achieved under the Oshiomhole-inspired reforms.

"We are proud with the leadership provided by the national chairman in the recent election of principal officers of the National Assembly, where he ensured the emergence of Senator Ahmed Lawan and Femi Gbajabiamila as senate president and speaker of the House of Representatives respectively. We believe the best is ahead of our party and that all hands must be on deck to ensure that we incrementally build on the solid foundations of reforms that have brought about discipline, party supremacy and put the party directly in the hands of the people

“Flowing from the above, we consider the public disparagement of our national chairman by anyone or group as unconscionable distraction borne out of complete misconception of the reforms and specifically, the principle of loyalty to the party. We denounce calls on Comrade Adams Oshiomhole to resign and we endorse  his leadership and hereby pass a vote of confidence in him.”