Oshiomhole officially resumes work, says party supremacy will be paramount

The new National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole on Tuesday assumed office at the APC national secretariat with a strong commitment to deepen the principles of internal democracy and party supremacy, saying all organs of the party must learn to respect decisions arrived at meetings of the various organs of the party which must be made functional.

Oshiomhole took over the leadership of the party from the former Chairman, Chief John Odigie Oyegun at about 2.45 said even the President can be accused of anti-party activities if he deviate from implementing decision taken by the National Executive Committee which he is part of.

Oshiomhole who spoke for almost 40 minutes also wonder why President Muhammadu Buhari has not demanded former President Olusegun Obasanjo to return the 16 billion dollars spent by his government on power which did not yield results.

In apparent reaction to a letter said to have been written to the Independent National Electoral Commission by the Social Democratic Party accusing the APC of “stealing’s slogan”, Oshiomhole said the slogan of the party remain Change, adding that the party has not taken any decision to alter its slogan.

He said: “When we talk about party supremacy, it can only be operational if there are organs of the party meeting to take decisions on variety of policies and when we take decisions like that, at the National Executive Council meeting and the President is seated, if the President act to violate such decision, he can be accused of anti-party because he is a party to the decision.

“The same thing goes for the National Assembly. If we establish these basis for quality decisions, executive and legislative actions must coincide with the promise and the manifesto. Where they don’t, we will have the kind of situation where the chassis is going right and the engine is going left. We must bring that to an end by creating a platform.

“We have come in to build on what we met and to reposition our party as we approach 2019.

“We want to go beyond being Electoral platform to be a party that is guided by its constitution and manifesto and we will do everything possible to support both the federal executive and federal legislature to ensure that both executive and legislative actions are informed by our commitment as reflected in our manifesto on the basis of which we were elected.

“We will create a situation where every year, we must have convention, not in the open like Eagle Square in centers we choose. The agenda will not be election, but to look at our manifesto and our performance and see the gap, if there is, between what we promised and what is happening and to explain that gap and get those elected to explain to us what they will do differently to avoid deficit between promise and reality.

“I also believe that in a world that is ever changing, the manifesto you wrote in the morning might be obsolete in the evening. For example, we promised to fight Boko Haram and to the credit of Mr. President and the armed forces, the Boko Haram that forced us to postpone national election in 2015 has been decimated which is a huge project.

“As that time, we never envisage the current magnitude of the herdsmen crisis even though they have always been there, maybe it has escalated. In terms of going forward, we must now review our security architecture to deal with new forms of criminality as they arise.

“People will also agree that level of kidnapping was much higher in 2015, but it has substantially reduced. But as you deal with one issue, new issues emerge and so, because the environment is dynamic, policies reflected in our manifestos must be subjected to constant review and ensure that they meet changing reality.”

While lamenting the polarization in the nation’s body polity at the moment, he said “Right now, one of the things that is faction-able in headlines is crime, new ethnic groups emerging and even those who have presided over Nigeria are returning to their places of birth to whip ethnic sentiment because their conscience tells them that they have committed a crime for which they can possibly be candidates for prison.

“We must scrap our these ethnic champions and religious bigots by putting up for national discourse policy issues that has to do with the Nigerian policy, economy and society.

“Let that be the basis for our agreement and disagreement and if there is going to be a fight within the rank of the APC, let the fight be that some people are raising issues about our educational policy and what we promised, our economic choices. The policies of the CBN as it affect investments and wealth creation rather than have ethnic nationalities conferences.

“If we fix Nigeria, everybody can worship in full freedom without worshiping on an empty stomach. We must work together to understand that in the 21st century, we need brains to drive our programmes. We are celebrating quantity which is not right. We are the most populous and the most endowed nation.

“I think the real challenge is that our party must work to move on to becoming the most skilled and united nation on the account of what we have achieved. What we should be celebrating is how democratic are we, how smart are we are how inclusive are we. How participatory are our processes for decision making.

“I am not aware that any organ of the party, there was a decision to change the slogan of the party that we all agreed to and as far as I know, we have not changed it and so, our slogan remains Change. We must sustain the change and deepened the change.

“When we do that and we are consistent, then progress will be the outcome because progress is the outcome of a sustained change. We have a duty to correct people on this one. We are proud of our slogan, we are committed to it.

“Recently, I watched the President asked questions about power and he 16 billion dollars that was spent on it. Maybe the President need to now asked the follow up question that since we cannot find the power, then, you must return the money that you spent.

“If he doesn’t do that, then the accusation of limited anti-corruption may begin to have come currency. So, to assist PDP to overcome their accusation, our President needs to do the needful. Courage should not fail him and he should recover the 16 billion dollars back into the treasury from the man who presided over the spending.”

Turning to Chief Oyegun, Oshiomhole said “I want to thank you for your leadership of our party and for leading us to victory in the presidential election and winning more states than the number of states that came together to form the APC.

“However hostile the historian may wish to be, there are facts that are stubborn. These are stubborn facts that are to your credit and I think that you have every right to enjoy the fact that you made records as chairman of our party.

“People are too busy pursuing day to day survival that basic fact often escape. We have the PDP as the first governing party in Nigeria and in their 17 years of existence as a political party, they had 14 National Chairmen.

“So, when they are going to write the history of internal democracy, stability of leadership and adherence to constitution as to when people leave office and how the6 leave, you will be the only in our history so far since 1999 who was elected, run the party on its rules and exited in glory on the basis of those procedures provided for in our constitution.

“It is to your credit that you didn’t have to be chased out of office for refusing to resign. There are so many things you have accomplished. So, when we talk about democracy, stability, due process and internal democracy, you led us to internalize these values.

“Our President also demonstrated that we can, when convenient speak to party supremacy and the next minute, the executive is treating party executives as if they his appointees. Between you and President Buhari, you have kId the foundation which I hope others will be able to copy.

“I wish that now that you are going to be less busy, I am going to be disturbing you about advise, about things I see and how you think we can deal with them. You can be elected to a position, but age is not by election and there is wisdom associated with aging.

“What you have going for you is not just age, but experience in various facet of life. This is not the first time I will be subjecting you to such unremunerated service. As governor, you freely offered advise sometimes and they were helpful and I will continue in that direction. I want to assure you that we will work hard as best as we can to improve the record that you have already set.”

On the elections in Ekiti, he said “I am also clear that we are assuming office on the eve of an election in Ekiti State. I am confident that all that we need to do is to make sure that the instrument that was ruthlessly deployed be then ruling party to rig us our is dismantled.

“They must now go through the rigour that we have a,ways gone through to persuade people why we are better. We won’t resort to using their own tactics because we promised to be different and we will be different. But I know that old gangs can’t change their habit and cannot learn what they have never known, which is how to win votes.

“They perfected how to write results which is no longer in vogue. I am very confident that Ekiti state will be won the basis of our record in comparison to their own records and ensuring that there is free and fair election. As you know, we launched one man, one vote.”

Handing over the reign of office to Oshiomhole, former Chairman, Chief John Odigie Oyegun apologized for delaying the handover, saying he needed time t9 rest after spending two days at the Eagle Square for the convention.

Oyegun said “I pay my due respect. I congratulate you for your signal victory and also all members of your team for their victory. It is my hope, expectations and prayers that yours will be a most distinguished and successful four years.

“My duty today is brief and short and that is to introduce you to what is now your property, your headquarters, your building and your office and to go through the formality of a handover.

“I have put my thoughts on paper and I thank God that you have some of the best brains that has survive the electoral process and will be working with you.

“So, I have put everything I thought is important on paper, with a lot of attachment which include an inventory of everything in this building and the papers for the purchase of this building and all the minutes of the National Working Committee, the caucus and the NEC. They will serve as a bank of knowledge.

“All that is left is to pray that during your period being signal successes to the party, that your period will make the party grow to greater height and your period will finally establish what we stand for, the smartest party in Nigeria and Africa.

“I have no doubt that it will become a reality that this party is the smartest party in the whole of Africa. May God grant you success in the elections that are coming, beginning with Ekiti and then Osun”.