Oshiomhole Names Members Behind His Removal As APC Chairman

Adams Oshiomhole, the ex-National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has disclosed the intricate details of a plot orchestrated by former Governors Kayode Fayemi and Ibikunle Amosun, along with Salihu Lukman, the former national vice chairman, North-west, of the party, to oust him from his position as the chair of the ruling party.

Oshiomhole addressed the issue of his conflict with the governors who were elected under the ruling party during his speech at the book launch event for “APC and Transition Politics” by Salihu Lukman in Abuja on Tuesday.

Oshiomhole detailed the author’s involvement, along with several governors, in spearheading the campaign that resulted in his “unlawful” dismissal from office.

He claimed that the governors utilized various illicit methods to oust him after he took steps to establish party supremacy.

“Lukman wrote several letters, dismissing my leadership without calling me. When you ride on the back of a tiger, there is only one destination.

“Lukman was appointed undemocratically by the governors’ forum. I was not consulted— I was a governor. We were told this is the new DG of the APC governors forum.

“I wrote to the governors for a meeting. The governors said no, I should come to Imo House, not the APC office. He [Lukman] was there [where they were holding the meeting]. He did not see anything wrong with that,” Oshiomhole said.

“It felt as though I was in a military barrack,” Oshiomhole said while recalling the atmosphere at the meeting with the governors.

He said following the diatribes from the governors, he responded “None of you can lecture me about the power of a governor because I have been governor twice. Eight years uninterrupted.

“At a point, I told Fayemi, ‘You did a resit. You were elected and by the second term, you lost. That means you failed’. I did not do a resit, and you are lecturing me about power. I can mention some of them.

“The man in Ogun State, he told me if not for the president, he would have left the party. Some of them told me ‘You are working for your paymaster in Lagos. Your paymaster in Bourdillon.’”