By Dapo Falade
Confusion and uncertainties reign Supreme in the All Progressives Congress (APC) as its deputy national secretary, Chief Victor Gaidom, on Wednesday, announced himself as the acting national chairman of the party.
Gaidom, who said he had since taken over the leadership of the party, based on a subsisting court order, also announced the cancelation of the screening exercise conducted, which disqualified Governor Godwin Obaseki from contesting the party primaries in Edo State.
He further issued a directive that all the governorship aspirants from the state should come forward for another screening exercise, while also calling and on party members to remain calm, with the assurance that he was fully in charge.
The latest devopment may have further compounded the APC leadership crisis which climaxed with the Court of Appeal ruling, on Tuesday, affirming the suspension of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole as the party’s national chairman.
The aftermath of the judgment has assumed a more worrisome dimension that might negatively affect the chances of the party in the governorship elections coming up in Edo and Ondo states later in the year.
Amid confusions trailing the court judgment, there are now three claimants to the ‘throne’ namely, Gaidom; a former governor of Oyo State, Senator Abiola Ajimobi; and deputy national chairman (North), Senator Lawal Shuaibu.
Senator Ajimobi who is reportedly said to be critically ill at First Cardiologist hospital in Ikoyi Lagos, had, earlier on Wednesday, announced his taking over as the acting national chairman.
The former governor of Oyo State, in a statement by his media aide, Bolaji Tunji, who claimed to have spoken with his boss on Tuesday night, said he took over the APC leadership in line with the party’s constitution.
According to him, Section 14 subsection 3 of the APC Constitution states: “the Deputy National Chairman shall act as the National Chairman in the absence of the National Chairman from his zone.”
Ajimobi’s spokesman further stated in the release that the former governor, as the acting national chairman, would soon call a meeting of the National Executive Council (NEC) to resolve all contentious issues.
“We should therefore let peace continue to reign until we call the NEC meeting and take a position on the way forward”.
Senator Ajimobi took over as the APC deputy national chairman last March when the NWC wrote a letter to the South-West zone to nominate a candidate for the position of the deputy national chairman (South) vacated by Chief Niyi Adebayo, following his appointment into the Federal Executive Council.
His appointment was supported by five of the six South-West states with only Ekiti protesting the nomination. Despite kicks from Ekiti, his candidature was affirmed by a Federal High Court.
However, Chief Victor Giadom had cried foul over the appointment of Ajimobi, insisting that he(Giadom) should have been the rightful occupant of the office of the APC acting national chairman.
He maintained that he remained the highest ranking official following the ruling of the Court of Appeal, on Tuesday, which upheld Oshiomole’s suspension, which has declared all his(Oshiomhole) actions since his suspension null and void.
Giadom, in a statement by his lawyer, Chief Wole Afolabi, on Tuesday, insisted that the order of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, issued on March 16, 2020 by Hon. Justice S.U. Bature in Suit No. FCT/HC/M/6447/2020, effectively made him to act as the APC national chairman of the party following the suspension of Oshiomhole.
He Stated further that the court order rendered Ajimobi’s appointment null and void and of no effect.
”We wish to state that the statement must have been issued in complete ignorance of the order of the FCT High Court issued on 16th of March, 2020 by Hon. Justice S.U Bature in Suit No. FCT/HC/M/6447/2020 to the effect that Chief Victor Giadom is to act as the National Chairman of the party due to the suspension of Adams Oshiomhole as the national chairman.
“The order was given the same day that the Court of Appeal earlier gave Oshiomhole a temporary respite by staying the execution of the said order suspending Oshiomhole. Now that the Court of Appeal has affirmed the order of suspension, it is only proper that the order recognising Chief Victor Giadom is implemented.
”Consequently, we have written to all law enforcement agencies to implement the said order and any one who attempts to parade himself/herself, other than Chief Victor Giadom, as the acting chairman of the APC would be facing contempt of court proceeding.”
The third claimant to the ‘throne’, Senator Lawal Shuaibu, is also not leaving any stone unturned in his bid to take over as the acting national chairman of the party.
Shuaibu, who is a known friend of Governor Godwin Obaseki and some governors who were opposed to the suspended APC national chairman, was suspended by Oshiomhole and only recently returned to office as the deputy national chairman (North).
A report has it that the friendly governors who were sympathetic to his cause have been goading him to assert himself as the acting national chairman of the party.
OSHIOMOLE LOST OUT, TINUBU’s PRESIDENTIAL AMBTION GONE WITH THE WIND
Meanwhile, PeesReporters gathered that the suspended APC national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, may have been finally shown the way out of the party, never to return to his seat again.
As things stand, Oshiomole would never get the support of the party, right from his ward where the suspension plot against him was planned and successfully executed up to the appellate court.
This is as he is not likely to get the support of any of the APC governors who reportedly accused him of high-handedness while in office as the national chairman.
In the same vein, feelers have it that the ouster of Oshiomhole as the APC national chairman may have put paid to the much speculated presidential ambition of Senator Bola Tinubu in 2023.
Though he is yet to make public his ambition, the former governor of Lagos State has not come out to deny the speculation, with Oshiomhole being pointed at as the leading arrowhead of the Tinubu-for-president in 2023.
An indication of the deep friendship and alliance between Tinubu and the suspended APC national chairman was the way and manner he turned down the APC governors who had sought his intervention at the peak of the plot to disqualify Governor Obaseki from contesting for a second term of office.
Buttressing the growing confusion and commotion in the APC, an activist, Femi Aduwo, warned on his timeline on Facebook on Wednesday, that no aspirant should take APC ticket, even if offered free, until the issue of the national chairman is resolved.
“Until the issue of who is the party national chairman is properly sorted via the court of National Convention, if they give you APC ticket for free, don’t take [it].
“Anyone who contests election under the APC at this time will just be doing so in vain. This is because it is the national chairman or secretary that can send names of candidates to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) .
“And as at today, the question is who is the national chairman of the APC? Ajimobi? Shuaibu? or Giedom.
Who is the secretary? Bulama? In which national convention was he elected as national secretary?,” he asked rhetorically.
Leave a Reply