Former Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, has been sworn in as the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress.

Mr Oshiomhole, who was affirmed as the National Chairman of the party unopposed on Saturday, was sworn in on Sunday by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami.

Ahead of his inauguration, the National Working Committee and National Executive Committee of the party were dissolved to make way for the new leadership.

It was a long wait for his inauguration as the National Convention dragged on deep into a second day.

Oshiomhole replaces Mr John Odigie-Oyegun who became National Chairman in 2014 and led the party into the 2015 general elections.

The former labour leader, however, has his work cut out for him as the party has battled internal crisis for months now.

Members of the party in some state are unable to see eye to eye and the internal divisions were evident during the ward and state congresses leading up to the national convention with parallel congresses held in some states.

The national convention was not spared of the dispute and divisions threatened to derail it at some point.

Despite heavy security presence at the Eagles Square in Abuja where the exercise took place, delegates from Imo and Delta became engaged in a free for all while President Muhammadu Buhari was addressing the convention.

Their dispute was, however, not as a result of the President speech. Rather, it was about old divisions among them worsened by disagreement over who to vote for.

The Imo delegates were allegedly divided with a group supporting the state governor and a second group supporting his deputy.

The situation in Delta is also reportedly due to conflicting loyalties.

Work To Do

In February, President Buhari had appointed the national leader of the party, Bola Tinubu, lead reconciliatory efforts in the party. The task of settling internal crisis and uniting the party will be one of the first challenges for the new National Chairman.

Just before the convention, Senators Ajayi Borrofice and Rilwan Adesoji Akanbi, told Channels Television that there was a lot of work to be done to unite the party ahead of the 2019 general elections.

According to Senator Borrofice, the outcome of the convention and the steps taken afterwards are crucial to the survival of the party.

On his part, Senator Akanbi believes Oshiomhole’s experience as the President of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) during the President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration would come in handy.

He said, “Looking at his antecedent, he was once a leader of the labour union in this country.

“He has managed so many crises and I believe that if he eventually emerges, he has a lot of work to do. He can use his experience to resolve most of these problems.

“There is a lot of work that needs to be done. I believe that before we go into the 2019 elections, a lot of aggrieved party parties should have been pacified and we need a united front to win the 2019 general elections.” (Channels TV)

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