Former Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomole,
has said he would have arrested and prosecuted
former President Olusegun Obasanjo if he were
President Muhammadu Buhari.
This is coming as the former Edo State governor received more
endorsements from the national leader of the party, Bola Tinubu,
as well as governors elected on the platform of the party ahead of
the national convention of the party.
Oshiomhole, who weighed in over the faceoff between President
Buhari and Obasanjo, urged Buhari to investigate and jail the
former president, should he be found to have dipped his hands in
public treasury.
Speaking at the event in honour of late Chief MKO Abiola’s family
chaired by Femi Falana, Oshiomhole also praised Chief Frank
Kokori for standing up to dictatorship when it mattered most.
“He should be arrested if he has committed any offence. He
arrested many of us. So, if we are celebrating Chief Gani
Fawehinmi, we have compelling reasons to do so. In all of these,
we didn’t pay any money to Gani or Falana. They defended us pro
bono.
“Gani is not here today, but his spirit is here. Falana is here and
today, I am standing. Even the president who was in charge then,
he is now complaining that they want to harass him. He was
harassing me and he got me arrested.
“He thought he himself would not be arrested? If I were the
president I would arrest him. We are all Nigerians. I remember one
day I told him, I said ‘President Obasanjo, we made you president.
You did not make me a Nigerian.
“’You are our creation; I am not your creation. You must listen’.
But he thought he would be in power forever and he tried to take
us on the way to Zimbabwe. He was a reluctant Head of State,
became president for two terms and he wanted to do a third term
because a cockroach licking palm oil would never lick enough.”
Oshiomhole added that when he was accused by Obasanjo of
behaving as if I was an alternate president; and he was running
the NLC like a parallel government that wanted to overthrow his
government.
The former governor further stated: “The late Abiola would be
smiling not just for the honour done him by the president, but that
Frank Kokori who was very young then, deployed the
instrumentality of oil workers to support the progressive mission of
the civil society.
He said: “It is not the position you occupy but the role that you
play that will define your place in history. This man was never an
NLC president but he is the only unionist invited to the investiture.
“So, we just consulted among ourselves, few of us who benefited
from Gani’s leadership by using the instrument of the law to
confront evil leaders…at the NLC, we were so efficient at causing
troubles but too poor to procure the services of legal titans like
Gani and Falana but who would always come and defend us pro
bono. So, we felt that on the eve of his investiture, we should
gather and celebrate him.”
In another development, Oshiomhole has received more
endorsements from Tinubu, as well as governors elected on the
platform of the party.
Speaking to journalists shortly after he led other governors on
solidarity visit to the Oshiomhole Campaign Office at Aso Drive,
Asokoro in Abuja, Tinubu said: “My presence here symbolises
solidarity and unity of purpose to continue to build a progressive
party that will carry Nigeria on in a progressive manner and
encourage good governance with courage and commitment.
“There is no doubt that I have endorsed his candidacy. I have
worked with him, should I have any doubt?”
On whether he feels he can work well with Oshiomole, Tinubu said:
“Yes, I can work with him, I have no doubt.”
When asked if the endorsements Oshiomole was getting from key
party leaders will not discourage other contestants and make the
convention exercise more like a rubber stamp, Tinubu said
democracy is all about winning.
“In politics, you seek to win. Have you seen anyone who wants to
lose? It is about wining, it is about choice and we just have to
accept that,” he said.
Tinubu was also asked to react to the outcome of the recent APC
congresses, especially as it relates to the parallel congress in
Lagos State, but he dismissed the parallel state executive led by
Foud Oki, describing it as a non-issue.
“Anybody can open a bank branch anywhere but it depends
whether its ATM card can work,” he said.
Kebbi State Governor, Alhaji Atiku Bagudu, who spoke on the
mission of the governors to the campaign office, said they were all
queuing behind the former Edo State governor to emerge as the
next national chairman.
“I believe all of us are in support of Oshiomhole. All our colleagues
are happy with this development. Our party is looking forward to
the chairmanship of Oshiomhole.
“He has had experiences in various aspects of national life and we
are all confident that the party is a structure that is necessary for
the continuous evolution and maintenance of democracy and his
collective experiences in the recent past as the governor of Edo
State, one of the most successful leaders of trade union movement
and a democratic activist all his life; these qualities would be
brought to bear in achieving the ideals of the APC,” he said.
The governor believed that Oshiomhole will be a leader who will be
the embodiment of the spirit of the party, saying the experiences
will help him make the party central to governance.
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