Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, the former national chairman of the All Progressives Congress, urged party members on Friday to start mobilising for the election of next year. He noted that the only way the party’s presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, and others could win the election was by remaining united.
At a stakeholders meeting in Benin, the former two-term governor of Edo State refuted claims that he had endorsed a candidate for the state’s governorship race in 2024, saying he had learned his lesson.
Party leaders in local government, according to Oshiomhole, the APC’s senatorial candidate in Edo North, have a crucial role to play in the upcoming elections. He urged them to visit their respective local governments, organise meetings, and promote their candidates to voters at the grassroots level.
When he was removed from his position as the party’s chairman after two years, he also urged the members who felt wronged to follow in his footsteps.
The contestants have emerged now that the primaries are completed, he declared. We must set aside our disagreements from the primaries and rally behind our candidates, starting with Bola Tinubu, the party’s national leader and two-term governor of Lagos and our presidential candidate.
“The aggrieved members of the should learn from my act of political tolerance when I was ousted from office as the national chairman of the party. I had the opportunity to seek in redress, which would have stalled the party’s congress, but I didn’t.
“I have not endorsed anybody for the governorship election and I will not be doing so. I have learnt from my mistakes. I have also not ask anyone to step down or asked anyone to step up. The only person I asked to step down was my younger brother and this is because two Oshiomhole cannot be on the ballot.
“In the past, when I asked people to step down, they did and never forgave me, while the ones that stepped up have not done anything to show for the faith responded in them.”
“We should explain to people about the APC ticket because there has been deliberate misinformation and an attempt to make the debate personal instead of issue-based.
“The issue is that we should vote a person that will develop the country. Those dwelling on the Muslim-Muslim ticket are doing so to distract people from the major issues. If they ask for your vote ask them to show you what they have done to deserve your vote.
“Tinubu did not make Islam mandatory for his wife who is a Senator and a pastor. His children are also Christians and Muslims. Is there a better example of religion tolerance?
“So, the Muslim Muslim ticket 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?
Whoever will develop Nigeria that I think should be the issues and all these sentiments are meant to remove issues from the debate.”
