SINCE June 23, 2018 when he became the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Tuesday, March 17, 2020 was a day that Comrade Adams Oshiomhole will not forget in a hurry.
It was a day that his traducers would have removed him as chairman of the ruling party via a National Executive Committee, NEC, meeting that he would not attend on account of his suspension as APC chairman by a Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Federal High Court.
However, a day to the controversial NEC meeting called by the Acting National Secretary, Chief Victor Giadom, who laid claim to the mantle of acting chairman, Oshiomhole was handed a lifeline by two events.
First, President Muhammadu Buhari, on the advice of bickering APC governors postponed the NEC meeting indefinitely. And secondly, the Court of Appeal ordered stay of execution of Oshiomhole’s suspension.
Thus, on the day he was to have been sacked, Oshiomhole returned to the saddle and superintended a National Working Committee, NWC, meeting where he acknowledged his mistakes, sued for peace and extended the olive branch to aggrieved leaders of the party, who were after his political jugular.
The horse-trading
Vanguard gathered, yesterday, that the reprieve did not come to Oshiomhole on a platter. It came after intense horse-trading by major stakeholders moderated by the Presidency.
To retain his seat, Oshiomhole, Vanguard gathered, was handed some conditions to meet. His traducers were also handed conditions to fulfil in the overall interest of the party.
An inside source, who was privy to the high-wire deals told Vanguard: ‘’You can see that at the NWC meeting, Oshiomhole toned down his combative posture and made conciliatory moves. That was one of the things he was asked to do. He was asked to hands-off Edo, stop harassing northern leaders, and stop his high-handedness. The presidency gave him tasks.’’
Asked if the anti-Oshiomhole forces are ready to sheathe their sword against Oshiomhole as agreed, the source said: ‘’The presidency gave him tasks. We are going along the line of what the presidency directed. No one likes wahala (trouble).’’
Asked if they would withdraw the avalanche of litigations as Oshiomhole told journalists they had agreed after the NWC meeting on Tuesday, the source added: ‘’The direction of the presidency is where we are going. We will withdraw the cases in court.’’
Out of court settlement
Speaking with journalists after the NWC meeting Oshiomhole stated that the NWC had resolved to withdraw all cases from the courts.
“We have also resolved that we are going to withdraw all cases in court that any member of the NWC is involved in so that we must lead by example and we have shown that we are capable of managing ourselves and therefore we do not need the court to help us resolve what we are capable of resolving.”
Lifting of suspensions
Oshiomhole also announced that the NWC has lifted the suspension it slammed on some of its members.
“People had issues which they felt strongly about, and as a result, the NWC took some decisions which affected my friend and brother, Senator Lawal Shuaibu, Deputy National Chairman, North. The NWC had a reason for suspending him as at then. Today, we have reviewed the situation and we believe that in the spirit of our renewed commitment to building unity and true reconciliation, we as leaders of the party elected at the convention should live by example. And that means for those we think have offended the system, we have chosen to lift their suspensions. Sen. Lawal Shuaibu can resume his duties as Deputy National Chairman, North.
“We also reviewed the matter of Inuwa Abdulkadir, National Vice Chairman Northwest. By the same spirit, the NWC was unanimous in lifting the suspension and he resumes work with immediate effect. So, with these two decisions, the two members of the NWC who were suspended, their suspensions have now been lifted”, he said.
Pleads for forgiveness
“I have asked everyone and they have accepted, whatever they considered to be my own shortcomings, I have asked for forgiveness and they have forgiven and whatever I considered to be anyone’s shortcoming that irritated me, I have also forgiven. This is the way it should be. It can only be abnormal if people know how to fight and they do not know how to settle”, he added.
Shuaibu returns to NEC, says Obaseki remains APC’s best option in Edo
As part of the peace deal, APC Deputy National Chairman, North, Senator Lawal Shuaibu, yesterday, returned to the party after the NWC lifted his suspension.
Addressing journalists at the national secretariat, Shuaibu who arrived at about 3:20pm said for the party to make a headway in the forthcoming governorship election in Edo State, the incumbent governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki remained its best bet.
