From Tony Osauzo and Ighomuaye Lucky, Benin
President Muhammadu Buhari has given a matching order to all aggrieved members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) across the states to withdraw all cases from the courts, work together and form a formidable force in winning the forthcoming elections general elections.
Former National Chairman of the party and two-time governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, announced this yesterday while addressing leaders of the party from the three senatorial districts of the state at a meeting in Benin City.
He told the leaders that he has not endorsed anybody as his preferred governorship candidate for the state, saying that he is yet to recover from his past mistake which he has learnt from.
“If God blesses us with victory, the rewarding system will change if you deliver your unit, your ward and your local government.
“For me, I will not anoint or appoint anybody. Because I can’t be doing the same thing and expect different result.
“All those that are saying Oshiomhole is supporting XYZ, they are liars. The one I supported, what has he gotten us?
“So, I have not endorsed anybody. The only person I asked to step down was my younger brother, this is because two Oshiomhole cannot be on the ballot.
“In the past, when I asked people to step down, they stepped down and never forgave me. I have learned my lesson.
Speaking on the Muslim -Muslim ticket of the APC, Oshiomhole urged Nigerians not to be deceived by what other presidential candidates from other parties are saying, that the presidential candidate of the party got married to a Christian wife and has not converted her to islam.
“The last thing I think we should explain to people, there has been deliberate misinformation, unknown issue, where people spend so much time talking about Muslim-Muslim ticket, Christian-Christian ticket.
“I want to repeat before you so that you take this message to the villages. Yes, Asiwaju is a Muslim, is a Yoruba man from the South West but he found love in Delta, our own Bendel. Is Delta not part of Bendel? And this beautiful lady, girl then, is a Christian, she was not a pastor then. While she was married to Asiwaju as a wife, she maintained her faith and grew to become a pastor in Redeemed Church, not one unknown church, one of the largest Pentecostal churches in Nigeria.
‘So, a man who didn’t Islamize his wife, he has five children the ones I know, some are Christians and some are Muslims. Is there a better example of religious coexistence? It is accepting that people have a right to worship according to their conscience.
“So, if he has not Islamized his wife, he has not Islamized his children, those of them who chose to be christians, is there any sensible case you think that he will do something negative if he becomes the president of Nigeria?
“So, don’t talk of Muslim-Muslim ticket and that is not the problem today. You have unemployed christians youths who are hungry and we have unemployed Muslim youths who are hungry. Does it matter who governs? When you go to Dubai do you need to ask whether the Emir of Dubai is a Muslim? Is a Muslim or those of us who go to UK for holidays, when you go there, Boris Johnson is a Christian. Does it matter to you who developed these countries?
“Whoever will develop Nigeria that I think should be the issues and all these sentiments are meant to remove issues from the debate”, he said.
He further urged all members of the party to go to their various units and win them up to their ward levels.
Besides, the former APC National Chairman tasked those who have governed their various states and are now presidential candidates on various political platforms to show to Nigerians their achievements before asking for their votes to become the nation’s president in 2023.
He also asked the aggrieved members of the party to learn from his act of political tolerance when he was ousted from office as the national chairman of the party, saying he had the opportunity to have gone to court to challenge his removal from but he did not despite the pressure and persuasion from friends and political associates.
“Now I am an example. You know I was National Chairman, and you know how I was removed, did I go to court? If I had gone to court, you think I wouldn’t have had a chance? But some people said it is your right and you are sleeping on your right, but I said no and I am sleeping on that my right, and I am still sleeping on that my right. I am snoring, and I am enjoying it for a better future, and that future is here.
“If I had gone to court and APC could not do their convention, what would I gain? Take example from my own life”, he said.