*Says APC will still win Ogun, Imo without Amosun, Okorocha’s support
By Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja
National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Adams Oshiomhole, has warned that former President Olusegun and the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, may incur the wrath of God for allegedly toying with His name.
He said Obasanjo had forgotten that he swore that God should punish him if he ever supports his former deputy, Atiku, to become president.
The former Edo State governor also dismissed fears that the defections of aggrieved aspirants in Ogun and Imo might adversely affect the fortunes of the party in the 2019 general elections.
Instead, Oshiomhole said APC is stronger now in Ogun and Imo states despite grievances of their governors, Ibikunle Amosun and Rochas Okorocha, respectively.
Oshiomhole spoke when he received a delegation of APC women leaders from Edo State in his private office in Abuja.
Oshiomhole said President Muhammadu Buhari and APC will win the 2019 presidential election with even higher margin because ethnic and religious sentiments that characterised the 2015 election lost by former President Goodluck Jonathan would not be at play this time around.
Oshiomhole said unlike 2015, in the 2019 election there are two leading candidates that are from the North and they are both Muslims.
“People are now going to look at character. Nobody has ever said Buhari is a thief. But who said the other person (Atiku) is a thief? it was his boss (Obasanjo).
“When you are working with me and I said you are a thief, God will punish me if I support you. And when you are confused because your supply line has been chopped off, you now turned around to support the same person. That God that you called with your name to punish you if you support the person is about to go to work. And He will go to work in February and He will punish him thoroughly and the person he is supporting against Nigeria,”Oshiomhole said.
Oshiomhole said the popularity of APC in Imo and Ogun had soared despite the alleged anti-party activities of their governors, adding that the party is targeting the larger voting populace in the two states rather than few powerful persons.
In the case of Ogun, Oshiomhole said it was pertinent to note that Vice President Osinbajo is also from tge state and the fact that it is one of the most enlightened states in Nigeria.
They have a huge history; they are not in a political kingdom headed by one person. Those who think our political future is tied to them; they are poor students of their own political history. Some of these people who talk as if they are invincible, they have forgotten that they have run elections in the past and lost until they abandoned their parties and joined us. So if they return back, history will repeat itself.
“In Imo state today, APC will win more votes. My focus is on ordinary Imo voters because on that day, the governor would have only one vote, his son-in-law would have only one vote while his Commissioner for Happiness would have only one vote.
“But artisans, traders, teachers and workers whose salaries are not being paid have the same weight of vote and they are excited about the renewed possibility of a new government coming with fresh ideas free of all the encumbrances of the present system. So in Imo I’m very confident,” he said.
The APC national chairman deplored the actions of those who defected from the party saying that if they were interested in true reconciliation, they wouldn’t have done what they did.
On whether the party will apply sanctions on the members engaging in anti party activities, Oshiomhole said the real sanction will come from the electorate.
“That is not how democracy works. Nigeria must grow beyond this syndrome ‘I’m the governor, I will decide.’ You have only one vote. With due respect, I was once a governor. Overall, APC is much stronger now.”
Oshiomhole however, said that the efforts of the Peace and Reconciliation Committee were already yielding fruits in some places while those with negotiable grievances were being sorted out.
