The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, yesterday opened up on his invitation last Sunday by the Department of State Services (DSS) and what transpired for the over 8 hours he was with the operatives in their Abuja office. Contrary to reports that the APC chairman was arrested by the DSS, detained and granted bail, Oshiomhole told a select group of editors in Lagos that he was not arrested or detained by the operatives, but went to their office on invitation.
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“Our conversation centered around APC primaries. The question now is whether or not it is the DSS job to interfere in a political party’s issues. And if there’s an allegation of corruption, it is the responsibility of EFCC and ICPC,” he said.
On the report that the DSS wanted to compel him to resign, he said it was not the responsibility of the service to do so, adding that he is not answerable to them. Oshiomhole, who came back to Nigeria on Friday after visiting his wife and the APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, in the US and UK respectively, dismissed reports that he has been scheduled to meet again with the DSS soon upon his return to the country.
The APC chairman, who has been up in arms with some governors of the party, particularly Rochas Okorocha of Imo State and Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State, said that he only disagreed with them on the realities of the outcome of the party’s primaries. He pointed out that Okorocha has been his friend and had supported him when he was running for the chairmanship of the party, but said that he cannot help the Imo governor to build his dynasty.
Governor Okorocha has been insisting on producing his son-in-law, Uche Nwosu, as his successor, but the party released the name of Senator Hope Uzodinma as its governorship candidate in Imo on Friday.
According to Oshiomhole, the declaration of the party’s primary election results was beyond friendship, saying that when friendship goes beyond or runs contrary to national interest the latter takes precedent.
He also said that in the case of Amosun, he has not seen where only one man would present names to fill over 40 positions without carrying his people along. He, therefore, dismissed the claim by Amosun that he allowed the Lagos State primary result while disallowing that of Ogun State, explaining that the Clement Ebri primary election committee sent from Abuja validated the result of the Lagos primary while that of Ogun was concocted by Amosun and his men, which was a departure from the governor’s senatorial primary that followed due process and was upheld.
Oshiomhole stated that President Muhammadu Buhari is a respecter of due process and so will not listen to the complainants running to Abuja to tell him stories, saying that he adequately briefed the president as the results of the primary elections were coming in.
He said that his traducers who accused him of selling out and collecting bribe from aspirants missed their claim as he would have rather collected from the governors who were running after him, adding that all their claims were just fallacies.
