13th November, 2019
There seems to be no solution in sight for the imbroglio the ruling All Progressives Congress has intricately woven for itself in Edo state, as National Chairman of the Party seized an organ that he controls to suspend the state chairman, Anslem Ojezua.
Simultaneously, the National Working Committee announced the establishment of a reconciliation committee, in a crisis, in which Oshiomhole himself is a party and has been suspended by the local chapter.
This may be why the APC Governors Forum has asked Oshiomhole to call a meeting of the National Executive Committee of the party, which last met in 2018. The forum further asked Oshiomhole to resign if he cannot play the role of a leader.
In a statement that questioned Oshiomhole’s penchant of driving the party into one crisis after the other, the APC governors wondered: “Why should the NWC under Comrade Oshiomhole continue to imagine that it can conduct affairs of the party without mandatory meetings of party organs?
“What legacy is Comrade Oshiomhole hoping to achieve as a National Chairman, by running the party in a way that suggests almost zero commitment to issues of party development?
“In the current circumstance, nothing short of a NEC or National Caucus meeting of the party can resolve all our increasing organisational challenges as a party.
“It is either Comrade Oshiomhole respect the provision of party constitution and convene superior organ meeting to deliberate on all our challenges, or he should just accept his inability to manage the party and simply resign.
The governors statement was issued by Salihu Moh. Lukman, the DG of their forum, who out of concern for party unity had sent an SOS earlier to the leadership of the party to call Oshiomhole to order.
However, Oshiomhole’s National Working Committee (NWC) is interpreting the Edo crisis in a different way, even though it expressed anxiety over the turn of events and the deepening of the crisis.
The NWC noted that the deterioration of the cohesion in the party continued inspite of the various steps the party has taken to find an amicable resolution.
In a statement by Lanre Issa-Onilu, the publicity secretary of the party, the NWC mentioned the intervention of the Chairman, Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) and Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi; Chairman, Progressives Governors’ Forum (PGF) and Governor of Kebbi State, Alhaji Abubakar Bagudu, and other eminent party leaders.
“Sadly, these interventions have not yielded the desirable results.
“However, the immediate concern of the NWC is how to ensure that unity returns to the ranks of the party in Edo State. In achieving this, we have decided to constitute a high-power fact-finding and reconciliation committee of party leaders to meet with all disputing parties to ensure that all issues are addressed and resolved”.
According to the NWC, at its meeting today, it received a notification of the suspension of the Edo State APC Chairman, Anslem Ojezua by eleven of the sixteen members of the Edo State Working Committee (SWC).
“We have reviewed the process they followed and conclude that they have fulfilled the required conditions.We therefore uphold the suspension of the Edo State APC Chairman, Anslem Ojezua while we await the outcome of the fact-finding and reconciliation committee.
“Please note that the NWC’s objective and cause of action is strictly to address the root causes of the disputations and reconcile all parties to make our great party even stronger”, the statement added.
It remains to be seen whether Ojezua’s suspension is the right antidote to resolving the multifaceted crisis that began between Oshiomhole and Governor Obaseki since June 2019, with the contentious inauguration of the Edo State House of Assembly.
Obaseki had supported minority APC members to elect the principal officers of the assembly.
Hell had let loose since then.