This came barely 24 hours after the two governors renewed their attacks on the APC chairman.
While Okorocha claimed on Thursday that the fortunes of the APC had witnessed a downturn since Oshiomhole took over as national chairman, Amosun alleged that the party chairman and his cohorts were working towards handing over Ogun to “a gang of expansionists.”
In an apparent response to the two governors, Oshiomhole described their personal attacks on his person as a direct result of their failure to foist undemocratic processes on the party.
Specifically, he described governor Okorocha as “an embarrassment” to the APC with his failed attempt to elicit APC’s support to help him build “a political dynasty” as well as his needless personal feud with the institution of the church in his state.
Oshiomhole spoke at a media briefing in Abuja, on Friday.
He said for the avoidance of doubt, the party’s National Working Committee had met and upheld the outcome of the party primaries conducted by the Ahmed Gulak-led panel sent to the state by the NWC to conduct the exercise.
The national chairman said, “Governor Rochas Okorocha, the chairman of the Progressives Governors Forum is a beneficiary of the court process, we rescued him. The primary conducted by my predecessor completely swept governor Okorocha out of the system-from ward, local government to the state.
“What I am not able to do for Governor Okorocha is to assist him with the instrument of the APC to help him to build a political dynasty.”
Consequently, he said, “We have prepared the name of Sen. Hope Uzodinma and submitted to the INEC.
“If governor Rochas chose to relocate to the Villa and use the grounds of Villa to try to intimidate me to create a dynasty, I won’t accept it. I will uphold the truth in the best interest of the APC members and indeed of the APC people in Imo State. The truth does not require a supporters’ club to stand, it has its own legs, and it can stand.”
In the case of Ogun State, the APC national chairman said the state governor was trying to act like an emperor. He said the APC under his leadership did not have a place for emperors.
He accused the governor of attempting to lord it over the majority of party members in the state by brazenly imposing candidates for virtually all elective positions in the state.
According to Oshiomhole, the governor held a stakeholders meeting as required by the APC National Executive Committee but went on to do the bizarre.
Oshiomhole said, “At the meeting, this is no secret, I expect that some of your media houses will have video clips of what transpired at that meeting because it wasn’t a closed-door meeting, it was an open meeting. Governor Amosun in his wisdom decided to introduce ‘third element’ which didn’t feature in the resolutions of the National Executive Council.
“He announced that Ogun State was going to adopt consensus and he proceeded to define what in his view constitute a consensus.
“And having defined it to mean the pronouncement of the governor, he went on to announce what, according to him, represents a consensus candidate. He announced one Akinlade as the next governor. He proceeded to announce another gentleman, whom he said would be the deputy governor, consensus!
“He went on to proclaim himself as the next senator through consensus and he says the current senator in his own Senatorial zone, Senator Tejuoso, will step aside so that he, Ibikunle Amosun, at the end of his tenure as governor of Ogun State, will proceed to the Senate. According to him, this is his own consensus.
“He went on to also announce that the second Senator also, from Ogun State will step aside and another gentleman will come in place of that senator. And according to him, this pronouncement is a consensus.”
Oshiomhole further said, “Not done, governor Amosun went on to announce a particular gentleman, who will be the next Speaker. He went on to announce another one who will be the next deputy Speaker of the state House of Assembly.
“Governor Amosun, according to his own definition of consensus, also unilaterally pronounced that of the eight seats of House of Representatives members, seven will not return according to him, only one will return. This he claimed is a consensus.
“He went on to list other members of the House of Assembly who will seek re-election and those who will not seek re-election. All through, he announced about 40 names which according to him constitute consensus.”
The APC chairman described Amosun’s actions as “undemocratic, immoral and an abuse of power.”
He also said, “Our constitution does not recognise emperors. There are not emperors in the APC, if anybody attempts to invent himself as an emperor, it will be an enterprise in futility.
“Based on our rules, we have since conducted primaries and submitted the name of the winner, Prince Dapo Abiodun, to INEC for the purpose of the forthcoming governorship election that for me has concluded that matter.”
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