Following the ongoing crisis in his party as a result of the outcome of its primaries and threats to remove him from office, National Chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, has said that he would not bow to pressure to make him act against his conscience over the crisis in the party, insisting that the issues were internal family issues which will be resolved.
Oshiomhole who made the declaration while speaking with State House correspondents at the end of a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Wednesday, said only “three governors are not particularly pleased with the outcome of the primaries in their states.”
“I believe three governors are not particularly pleased with the outcome of the primaries in their states and you cannot grudge anyone for not being happy if a particular outcome does not coincide with his expectations,” stressing that “an overwhelming majority of the governors appreciate he has done his best because change is not easy.”
“I think that with time, we will reconcile all these; (Ibikunle) Amosun is my good friend; we have known each other for a very long time; we exchange personal visits in addition to official visits; Zamfara governor has been the Chairman of NGF and I was an active member of that forum; we have wonderful time together and I believe in the future, we are still going to have wonderful time together; Rochas Okorocha was one of those who had issues with my predecessor and I did my best to try and resolve those issues in a way that has been given him a new platform.
And I am happy that God used us to do that not by cheating in his favour but by doing what is right.” he said
Speaking on how the process of change could be traumatizing, he said it was not surprising that there was disquiet as he is a friend to the governors. While maintaining that he has respect for the governors and appreciates them for the fact their support, without which he wouldn’t have been chairman, he insisted he would rather obey his conscience than succumb to pressures that will make him do what is wrong.
Let me say that if there is a choice between my conscience-what I believe is right and mortgaging that conscience in order to keep the job, I will have no difficulty resolving it in favour of my conscience.
“And those who know me know that at my age I cannot learn new tricks. I am absolutely committed to justice, fairness, I am a stickler to enforcement of rules; because the source of relevance is derived from rules. I have lived my life fighting for justice and fairness,” he said.
According to the former Edo Governor, the crisis in the party was expected against the backdrop of its position as the governing party, as he said the party has a higher stake.
“I will say it is the tree that bears fruits that attracts stones; the tree that doesn’t bear fruits doesn’t attract any stones.
We are the one in the news; if we were in the stock market, our shares would have increased considerably,” he added.
The former labour leader who stressed on his resolve to stick to the rules, said he didn’t have power to appoint or to change outcomes particularly when things have been properly done.
“We all want change but the process of change can be quite traumatising, because it is not painless. People have been used to a particular way of doing things; to encourge them to do them differently can be a challenge.
I have no illusions; this job I am doing is not a pensionable job; but I did promise myself that if I am going to be on this job for one day, I will do according to the rules and according to my conscience; I will be fair and just to all and God will give me the courage and the wisdom to to do his will. How far that can take me is exclusively in the hands of God,” he said.
Read » APC crisis: I’d only succumb to my conscience, not pressure – Oshiomhole on YNaija
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