A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in Edo State, Charles Idahosa, yesterday, called on the National Chairman of the party and immediate past governor of the state, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, to quietly tender his resignation letter for the interest and survival of the party.

Besides, he said the party is losing its grip due to the alleged overbearing attitude of the national chairman of the party.

‎Idahosa made the call while reacting to issues in the crisis rocking the party in the state and to correct those claiming to have formed the party in the state which he said they did not.

“I happened to have been among five Nigerians that formed the Action Congress for Democrat (ACD) that is today APC.

“In 2006, after we formed the ACD in 2004, gentlemen of the press, you can look at all these, Igbinedion disowned ACD. In fact, I was the one that was being disowned because in 2006, they saw me at a meeting of the ACD now APC, Lai Mohammed, and there was this insinuation that Igbinedion as then governor and Tinubu were the ones sponsoring the ACD that is now APC.

“While Tinubu kept quiet, he did not bother to deny Lai Mohammed, the Edo State Government at that time quickly disowned me, but it is very interesting today that everybody is now claiming APC.

“That is one of the reasons I cannot keep quiet. I am a founding father, I see people just coming into the party to destroy it.

“Adams Oshiomhole as at that time was still carrying placards on the streets of Lagos and Abuja, protesting as a labour leader. That was when we formed this party. We knew the roles he played that time.

“From the way we have seen issues, under Oshiomhole, APC is dying gradually and there is no way somebody like me can see issue and pretend not to see it,” Idahosa said.

He said the national chairman of the party has no political home base and that he has been suspended by his ward, Local Government Area and by the state chapter of the party adding that the only way out for him is to tender his resignation letter as he lacks the political acumen to lead the party but can best function as a labour leader.

“If as labour leader, you become very popular, Lerge Valessa was a great labour leader who led a riot in Poland and for that popularity, they voted him to become president of Poland and after few years, he crashed out. He now discovered that trade unionism and activism is completely different from politics.

“Oshiomhole must have been a very good trade union leader, I have my observations about that, but as a leader of a political party, he does not have the temperament, he does not have the character to lead the party, the best we can do for himself because we still love him, is to tender his resignation so that the party can have peace because the way the party is going, it is going out of control”, he said.

Idahosa also accused the immediate past governor of the state of being the brain behind the 14 members-elect of the state House of Assembly not resuming sitting as duly elected members of the house, thereby denying the people of their rights.

He expressed optimism that the state governor, Godwin Obaseki, would get the party’s ticket whether through direct primaries or indirect primaries, noting that it is the party in the state that decides what pattern it will use in conducting its primaries.

Idahosa while reacting to Oshiomhole’s comment on the state deputy governor, Philip Shaibu, said he was not fair in his comment that he made Philip whereas it was Philip’s late father that made him, stressing that the late Shaibu would turn in his grave over such comment about his son.

But reacting to Idahosa’s comment, spokesman for the yet to be inaugurated lawmakers-elect, Washington Osifo, accused him of playing money politics.

“It is laughable for Hon Idahosa to be calling for the resignation of our national chairman. He does not play politics based on ideology or principles, he plays his politics on who is bringing the money. He is saying this because of what he is making from the current system. Oshiomhole has come to reposition our great party”.

On the allegation that the 14 lawmakers-elect were being housed in Abuja and paid salaries by Oshiomhole, Osifo said: “That is far from the truth. We decided from the day of the illegal inauguration on June 17 in the night that we are going to challenge the illegal action.

“The case is in court because we are lawmakers and we cannot be lawbreakers, we are pushing out the case legally.

“We also want to commend our numerous supporters for remaining law-abiding in this struggle to enthrone genuine democracy. They should remind calm and disregard this unfortunate comment by Idahosa,” he said. (The Sun)

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