Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Immediate past minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, has again taken the embattled National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, to the cleaners, alleging that his dictatorship has destroyed the ruling party.
Addressing journalists in Abuja yesterday, Shittu described Oshiomhole as ‘one person who is a dictator, who wants to dominate his environment, who does not want to take advice and one person who does not seek advice.
Shittu stressed that having failed, Oshiomhole should honourably resign to avert the party from humiliation in the 2023 general election when there will be no Buhari factor to drive the party.
He lamented Oshiomhole’s role in denying him opportunity to contest Oyo governorship primary.
“I am aware that God hates injustice and fights for the weak. To contest any position in Nigeria, there is nowhere it is stipulated in the constitution that you must have an NYSC discharge certificate.
“To tell you the mischief our party’s national chairman and his cohort did, Dapo Abiodun, now governor of Ogun State never served, the immediate past Oyo governor, Ajimobi, did not also serve and I can mention a whole lot of others.
“It is the same Oshiomhole who denied me the opportunity to contest the party primary that cleared Ajimobi for senate and Abiodun for governorship. These double standard will never be certainly allowed by God,” he quipped.
Asked why he joined the league of those calling for his resignation, he said: “I am hard on him because he has come to destroy our party. How do you justify a national chairman who took over at the time the party controlled 26 states but we have lost about five to six states to the opposition.
“If it were in a civilised clime, Oshiomhole should have resigned now because he is a failure and does not have the capacity to run a civilised political party.
While expressing reservation over the future of the party ahead of the 2023 general elections, he said: “My fear now is that as of today, it is the personality of President Muhammadu Buhari that is galvanising the party together.
“I hate to see a situation by 2023 when Buhari is no more on the ballot, who again will bring us together into the electoral battle as one united front?
“Who has the love of our people and the commitment for Nigerians to vote for APC. I don’t see the APC winning with Oshiomhole in charge of the party.
Meanwhile, Shittu has suggested that the party should jettison the zoning arrangement and allow all party members to seek the apex political position regardless of ethnic extraction.
He expressed reservation on zoning, noting that no zone should be side-lined in the 2023 general elections, including aspirants from the North.
Shittu further contended that President Muhammadu Buhari did not win the 2019 presidential election based on ethnic nationality.
He added that every candidate must be allowed to prove him or herself before the electorate irrespective of zone.
The minister argud that zoning formula could deny the country the opportunity of producing a great leader,. “As far as I am concerned, when it comes to election, you must allow every party and candidate the opportunity to conduct a primary. When a candidate emerges, then he represents the political party’’ he stated.
“For example, if you say that my brother from Shaki should contest election, if I don’t find him worthy enough to represent me, must I stupidly follow him because he is my brother when it is not a family business? It is not essentially about zoning, wherever a president comes from should not be a zoning matter,” he argued.
The minister however contradicted himself on his position at the presidency, when he slammed Ajimobi for refusing to honour his earlier pledge to hand over power to his zone, in the 2019 governorship election.He alleged that Ajimobi’s acion was as part of reasons APC lost in Oyo state.