OGUN state governor, Sen. Ibikunle Amosun has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole of falsehood and attempt to help hijack the state government.
Contained in a statement issued by the Ogun state government on Saturday, contrary to the position of the APC National Chairman, “the only gubernatorial primary held in the state was that of October 02, 2018, which produced Hon Adekunle Akinlade as the winner”.
The statement was in reaction to a press briefing by Mr Oshiomhole on Friday, during which he accused the Ogun governor of taking series of steps in a bid to impose his preferred candidates on the APC and contravening the party’s constitution.
Also, Oshiomhole had earlier insisted that the authentic governorship primary conducted by the APC in Ogun produced Mr Dapo Abiodun and not Akinlade as the party’s governorship candidate.
The Ogun governor, however, faulted Oshiomhole’s position and the language he used to express the same.
“Governor Amosun notes the unsavoury language used against him by the garrulous party chairman, but he will not descend into the gutter to exchange words with him because where he comes from, there are “acceptable standards of conduct expected of people holding certain offices, a virtue he wishes Oshiomhole would exhibit”, a statement by the Ogun State Commissioner for Information, Mr Adedayo Adeneye stressed.
The governor further explained that the emergence of Akinlade was initially through a consensus arrangement as allowed by the party constitution but was nevertheless subjected to a primary election when some gubernatorial aspirants disagreed with the outcome of the consensus arrangement.
“This is, however, without prejudice to the sanctity of the consensus arrangement which Adams Oshiomhole hypocritically tries to demonise,” Governor Amosun added, faulting the APC chairman’s criticism of his plan for consensus candidates.
He argued further that “Oshiomhole himself was elected National Chairman of the APC by consensus arrangement which witnessed all other contestants to the office being prevailed upon to step down for him (Oshiomhole)”.
Governor Amosun also accused Oshiomhole of double standards, saying, “The ground on which Oshiomhole disputes the gubernatorial primary in Ogun State is that the result was not announced by the State Electoral Committee from Abuja, therefore the governor resorted to self-help”.
“We wonder why Oshiomhole accepted the result of the primary election in Lagos State whose result was also not announced by the State Electoral Panel. Why will the same scenario be acceptable in Lagos State but regarded as self-help in Ogun State?” he added.
