APC: Shittu blasts Oshiomhole

…Says ex- Edo Gov collected N22m bribe from aspirants to balkanise APC

…21 APC govs backs embattled chairman

Tunde Opalana, Abuja

Troubles confronting the National chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, were aggravated on Thursday as the immediate Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, accused the party chairman of collecting and embezzling a sum of N22.5 million from aspirants ahead of last party primaries.

Shittu also accused Oshiomhole of destroying the party with his dictatorial tendencies and highhandedness.

Addressing newsmen in Abuja on Thursday, the former minister said the party chairman fraudulently collected a whopping N22.5 million from aspirants only to disqualify them on flimsy reasons.

He said: “In advertising for people to pick nomination form, should he not have really set out requirements and conditionality. Why must you wait until I have paid N22.5 million only to come out with baseless allegations?

“It is not only me alone. He did the same to Aisha Hassan, Mama Taraba, which led to our failure in Taraba. I was told that for the fact that the woman was denied the ticket would have won because the past governor was not seen to have performed well.

“But when you take money from people then balkanise the party, at the end of the day, you have half of your brigade going to war while the other half will perhaps be doing something else.”

He described Oshiomhole as ‘one person who is a dictator, who wants to dominate his environment, who don’t want to take advice and one person who does not seek advice, stressing that having failed, he should honourably resign to avert the party from humiliation in the 2023 general election when there will be no Buhari factor to drive the party.

He bitterly narrated how the National Chairman allegedly denied him opportunity to contest Oyo governorship primaries.

Shittu said: “I am aware that God hates injustice and fights for the weak. To contest any position in Nigeria, there is nowhere it is stipulated in the constitution that you must have an NYSC discharge certificate.

“And to tell you the mischief our party’s national chairman and his cohort did, Dapo Abiodun, now governor of Ogun State never served, the immediate past Oyo governor, Ajimobi, did not also serve and I can mention a whole lot of others.

“It is the same Oshiomhole who denied me the opportunity to contest the party primaries that cleared these other people to contest- Ajimobi for Senate and Abiodun for governorship. This double standard will never be certainly allowed by God,” he quipped.

While alleging that Ajimobi used Oshiomhole to disqualify him, he said: “Another point of departure between Ajimobi and myself was when he got Oshiomhole to disqualify me. Why should he disqualify me, is he an illiterate not to know that there is legal department of the party?

“If a chairman has anything to do concerning the law, he should seek advice from the legal adviser. I spoke to a number of party chieftains, but nobody has the courage to challenge him.”

Calling for Oshiomhole’s resignation, he said: “I am hard on him because he has come to destroy our party. How do you justify a national chairman who took over at the time the party controlled 26 states but we have lost about five to six states to the opposition.

“If it were in a civilised clime, Oshiomhole should have resigned now because he is a failure and does not have the capacity to run a civilised political party.

“He is one person who is a dictator, he is one person who wants to dominate his environment, he is one person who does not want to take advice and he is one person who does not seek advice.

“How do you justify where he directed that every state in the Southwest adopt direct primaries but insisted on indirect primaries in Oyo State? What is the standard?

“Anybody who does not have the capacity of being just is not capable of heading a civilised political party. I was the first person to tell Mr. President to appoint Oshiomhole political adviser when he became jobless after leaving office and he knows.

However, no fewer than 21 state chairmen rose from an emergency meeting with the embattled chairman passing a vote of confidence on him.

Briefing newsmen after the meeting, Enugu State chairman who doubles as the secretary of the forum, Ben Nwoye, dismissed as baseless all the allegations levied against the chairman, describing it as false.