The All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, yesterday heaved a sigh of relief after he got vote of confidence during the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting, surviving the impeachment threat against him.

Although, unconfirmed report claimed that President Buhari walked out of the meeting when it became rowdy, the meeting, which is the shortest NEC gathering, was tense during the early hours of Friday, when anti and pro Oshiomhole protesters grounded the activities along the road leading to the party’s national secretariat, resulting in security agents firing teargas to disperse the protesters.

Although, his arch-rival and governor of Edo state, Godwin Obaseki, was present at the meeting, every effort to stop the Edo state chairman, Anslem Ojezua, from entering the meeting venue was thwarted by other chairmen that complained and threatened to walk out of the meeting.

Interestingly, no decision was taken on the suspended members of the party like immediate past governors of Imo and Ogun state, Rochas Okorocha and Ibikunle Amosun among others that were incidentally absent at the meeting.

The party chairman revealed that the shortfall in the fund generated to finance the 2019 presidential election almost denied President Muhammadu Buhari re-election. Speaking at the NEC meeting at the party’s national secretariat on Friday, the national chairman disclosed that they had to, frantically source for funds few days to the election to prosecute the poll. He boasted that the senator representing Kogi West, Dino Melaye, will next weekend, join the other 15 National Assembly members that rebelled against the party, noting that Nigerians punished the Bukola Saraki-led rebels by retiring them.

He however lamented that in-fighting and internal squabbles denied the party re-election in Bauchi, and Adamawa states, even as he assured that APC will reclaim its stolen mandate in Sokoto state. “The electorate also elected more members of House of Representatives on the APC platform. Mr President, I also believe, it is significant to point out that those who rebelled against this party, who sought to bring us down, who decamped at a critical moment, believing that their defection would destabilise us and we would have no enough time to make up as led by Senator Saraki – he and 15 others, 16 of them.

“By the special grace of God, Nigerian electorate have chosen to punish them with their PVCs and their ballot papers. They were all voted out, and APC senators were voted in to replace them. The electorate also elected more members of House of Representatives on the APC platform. There is one that is still struggling but as it is, he is at 20,000 feet below ground level and he’s hoping that there would be miracle that would bring him to ground level and climb the tree to the Senate but by the special grace of God, under your leadership, that deficit, there will be no miracles in the election, particularly when they are free and fair.

“God willing, by the end of the month, when the re-run in Kogi State would be done, the sixteenth stubborn one will go the way of the other 15. That for me is remarkable because the message is clear that gradually but steadily when anyone who uses the popularity of a particular political party, in this case, those who rode on the back of Mr President to win election turned round to monetise it and used that same power to attack not only the Presidency but to attack the institution of our party, I think those lessons will linger for us.

“Mr President, I have chosen to amplify where we lost but we also made some gains, that’s quite understanding. I am sure it is heartwarming for every APC member and even APC well wishers that the man who led rebellion against our party, former Senate President that people of Kwara state did not only deny him return to the Senate, they also voted out every element in PDP and today from the governorship, we won, Senators we won and of course, the House of Representatives and state House of Assembly. “I think our victory in Kwara state for me was most outstanding. I think we now generally refer to Kwara with pride as the Otooge revolution. We also won in Gombe State.

I’m sure for our brothers in the North-East, Gombe with an incumbent PDP governor, our people only armed with their bare hands, but obviously with Mr President’s goodwill, we defeated PDP in Gombe State and today Gombe is governed by APC governor.

“So, Mr President, I believe that until these issues are finally resolved particularly those of them that are likely to go until Supreme Court level, I believe that life is sustained by hope, I believe that by the time we are done, we will have a chance of winning some of these cases that are going to the Supreme Court where we have lost at the level of the Court of Appeal,” he said.

(Saturday Sun)

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