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Politics

I’ve not defected to Action Alliance, says APC chief

I’ve not defected to Action Alliance, says APC chief

By Deborah Coker

Benin, March 18, 2020 (NAN) A chieftain of the APC, Alhaji Kabiru Adjoto, has dismissed insinuations that he has defected to the Action Alliance party, saying: “I’ll not leave the house I contributed to build’’.

Adjoto, who is Special Adviser to Gov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo on Parliamentary Affairs, made the clarification in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Benin.

He said there was no basis for him to leave the APC for another party, noting that he and other progressives had made remarkable contributions to bring the party to reckoning.

Adjoto described insinuations that he had dumped the APC for another party as “fake news fabricated by his detractors to bring him to disrepute’’.

The special adviser said that he had to make the clarification to set the records straight so that such fake news would be put to the dustbin by members of the public.

“I decided to clear the air on the matter because the recurring false narrative was becoming a source of concern to my teeming supporters.

“The fake news is a failed attempt to bring my name into murky waters of political hysteria. This has been the stock in trade of the fake news peddlers.

“The fabricated tale was even given a spice that I had gone ahead to lobby for chairmanship position in the said party.

“These elements, who are only relevant during political upheavals will stop at nothing to throw spanner in the wheel of peaceful resolutions as advocated by the leader of our party, President Muhammadu Buhari.

“For the umpteenth time, I remain a proud and ideological member of the APC with no iota of intention to defect to another political party.

“I’ll not leave APC now or in the near future,” said Adjoto, who was also the immediate past speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly. (NAN)

DCO/SN

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Edited by Silas Nwoha

Politics

Stalwarts team up in Edo to rescue Oshiomhole, APC

Stalwarts team up in Edo to rescue Oshiomhole, APC

By Deborah Coker

Benin, March 10, 2020 (NAN) A chieftain of the APC in Edo, retired Maj.-Gen. Charles Airhiavbere, announced on Tuesday that he and other stalwarts had joined forces to back up President Muhammadu Buhari and Mr Adams Oshiomhole to resolve the crisis plaguing the party.

Airhiavbere, a frontline aspirant for the governorship slot in the forthcoming Edo elections on the platform of the APC, made the announcement in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

The APC, led by Oshiomhole, a veteran labour leader, has faced recurring leadership crisis that appears to be threatening Oshiomhole’s plum job.

Airhiavbere lamented that the crisis which has pitched Oshiomhole against some interests in the ruling party was being induced by those he described as political dissidents in the APC.

”We shall help President Buhari and Chairman Adams Oshiomhole to overcome the crisis being induced against the party by political dissidents in the APC.”

He explained that it was getting clearer by the day that what was at the core of the entire plot against Oshiomhole was “the ambition of Gov. Godwin Obaseki’’.

According to him, the governor is being used as a “pawn” in the power struggle by some governors, who are vacating office in 2023.

Airhiavbere argued that the quest of the governors was to weed every politician associated with the defunct Congress for Progressive Change and the Action Congress of Nigeria in the build up to the 2023 general elections.

The APC chieftain said the ultimate game plan was to erase Buhari’s legacy and everything associated with him if the dissidents grabbed power in the next political dispensation.

He noted that “the indiscretion, insubordination and desperation of the Edo governor is what has thrown the APC into crisis at the moment.

“It is feared that it may likely send the APC to coma if the dissidents are not checkmated forthwith.

“However, there already a groundswell of support from majority of both the national working committee and members against the dissidents and their attack dogs.

“It is unfortunate that the dissidents have already concluded their alliance with the opposition to the extent that opposition governors have openly endorsed Obaseki for second term.

Airhiavbere argued further that most of the allegations against Oshiomhole contained “coterie of lies and mischief, fabricated to remove him from office.

He described Oshiomhole as a man with an enviable track-record of managing people and resources, dating back to his days as leader of the Nigerian Labour Congress.

“This is the major reason why all the political heavyweights in Edo State are with him.

“Therefore, APC as a party must be careful with the dissidents presenting charcoal to Nigerians and telling them it is deodorant in their desperation to remove Oshiomhole from office.

“They are only ganging up and getting afraid of Oshiomhole because they have realized that he will not compromise with them at all levels of the party.

Airhiavbere, who contested the Edo governorship primaries with Obaseki in 2016, recalled that the transition from a civilian administration to another civilian administration from PDP to APC in 2015 showed that democracy was evolving steadily in Nigeria.

He advised public office holders, elected on the platform of the APC to show character, be disciplined and to display unimpeachable loyalty to the supremacy of the party. (NAN)

DCO/CHIN/SN

Edited by Chinyere Bassey/Silas Nwoha