In what appears to be another open jibe at the Director -General of the Progressive Governors ’ Forum, Dr Salihu Lukman, the formal National Chairman of the All Progressive Congress,Adams Oshiomhole has openly stated that what he is today is not a product or result of his position as the party Chairman of the ruling party in Nigeria, the All Progressive Congress (APC)
Instead,the former Chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC) who is also a former President of the Nigeria Labor Congress boasted that while it’s not the office of the Chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC) which made him who he is today,it’s his antecedent as the President of the Nigeria Labor Congress that made him who he is today.
It will be recalled that Adams Oshiomhole before becoming the Governor of Edo state for two terms led the Nigerian workers as he served as the Union’s President.
These he stated in an open air interview which he granted journalist right after he met in a private meeting with the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Muhhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on the 17th of August 2020
Adams Oshiomhole, the past governor of Edo State, whose chairmanship of the All Progressive Congress (APC) ended on the 25th of June 2020 with the dissolution of the party’s National Working Committee after he was initially suspended was reacting to a statement made by the Director- General of the Progressive Governor’s Forum, Dr Salihu Lukman.
The Director- General of the Progressive Governor’s Forum, Dr Salihu Lukman has pointed accusing fingers at some big wigs and Party Chieftains of the All Progressive Congress (APC) of an alleged plan to restore Adams Oshiomhole back to his former position,which is the national chairman of the party.
Adams Oshiomhole responding to the allegations stated that he was not unemployed.
In his words , “ You want me to engage in a fight with a pig? If you engage in a fight with a pig, the pig already is stained by its nature and you will wear your white garment, and in my own case, khaki, to go and wrestle with a pig. I will not.
“ When I was removed as national chairman , Edo was APC . So, do I have to win Edo to become the chairman ? Do I look so unemployed? I’ m 68 .
“ So, what they don’ t understand is that it is not the office of chairman that made me who I am.
“ It is my pedigree from my days as a labourer in the textile industry to be the general secretary of textile workers all over Nigeria and becoming the president of the NLC.
“ There is no village I go to that people do not know me and it is this that I used to override the godfathers in Edo State for two consecutive terms and even got a governor elected , no violence before becoming the national chairman . ”
Speak to the reporters, Oshiomhole shot back at the Director General of the Progressive Governor’s Forum, Dr Salihu Lukman saying that upon the dissolution of the National Working Committee of the All Progressive Congress which saw to him leaving the position of the National Chairman of the party, nothing has be removed from him,as the position did not make him who he is.
Adams Oshiomhole making a comparism with the incumbent President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria President Muhhammadu Buhari stated that people embraced and voted for the President based on the trust they had in him and his antecedents.
He said such trust would still remain with the President even after 2023 when he would have ceased to be in office.
While Adams Oshiomhole has continued to be linked with various incidents of alterations and fracas with various individuals within and outside the All Progressive Party which is directly opposite the character he protrayed while serving as the National President of the Nigerian Labour Congress, it’s however pertinent for the former governor of Edo State and Immediate past Chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC) to tread the path of peace with his fellow party members and also adopt more diplomatic approach in his dealings with others.
The recent and on-going tussle of power in Edo State in the light of the fast approaching Gubernatorial election in the state has seen Adams Oshiomhole engaged in various fracas and word engagements with the Godwin Obaseki, an ally of his ,who later turned arch enemy.
Public officers are beacon of good characters and behavioral pattern and their actions must be one geared towards the creation of an ideal political system in Nigeria.
By Marcus Amudipe