By Ahead of the 2023 election, the immediate past national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has encouraged aggrieved party members to withdraw their cases from court.
Oshiomhole who spoke Friday at a meeting of top party members in Benin admitted that he has learned hard lessons from his involvement in two of his acolytes: Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki and deputy governor Philip Shaibu who later betrayed him.
The former Edo State governor who is the ruling party’s candidate for Edo North Senatorial district said that he never forced any candidate on the party in his local Edo North during the just concluded primary of the party.
Drumming passionate support for the party’s presidential candidate Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, he accentuated that the only person he ever told to step down is his younger brother, Saidu who had the automatic ticket for Etsako West Constituency 2 ticket however needed to urge him to stop since it won’t be appropriate to have two siblings name on different ballots.
He said: “I have learned my lesson. All those people I supported before, how did it end up? I only told my younger brother to step down because Oshiomhole can not be going for senate and another Oshiomhole going for House of Assembly. Na only Oshiomhole dey? In Edo North, I never imposed anybody.”
He emphasized President Muhammadu Buhari’s pleading that aggrieved aspirants ought to privately address any remaining issues for solidarity, noting that party supremacy should be uppermost in the minds of all faithful.
He reminded that he decided not to mount a legal challenge when he was removed as the party national chairman, not on the grounds that he didn’t get an opportunity to upturn it, but for party unity and union.
Oshiomhole pleaded: “We should not fight to finish. I didn’t go to court when I was removed. It was not because I didn’t have a chance. It is an honor to be the national chairman of the party even if it was for one day. If the Supreme Court ruled that I should come back but the party leaders said no, who will I preside over?
“I chose to sleep over my right by not contesting my removal, and I am enjoying it. I chose not to go to court. I told my lawyer to withdraw the case from court. Please take a cue from my example and withdraw all cases as regards primary from the court.”
At the meeting which saw the presence of former Deputy Governors Pius Odubu; Lucky Imasuen; former governorship aspirant, Gen. Charles Airhiavbere; Deputy Majority Leader Peter Akpatason among others, the state party chairman, Col. David Imuse revealed that out of the 22 cases in court following the party primary, 12 of the defendants have consented to pull out their cases from court.
