More facts as to why Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, the former national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) refused to contest the just concluded primary of the
ruling party have emerged.
In a sudden Facebook post which caught political analysts by surprise, Mr. Victor Oshioke, the media aide to the immediate past governor of Edo State had in an April 29 announcement invited people to Oshiomhole’s public declaration for the office of President in the 2023 general election on the platform of the APC.
The venue of the declaration which has “Restructure The Change 2023” as it slogan was at Cyprian Ekwensi Centre for Arts and Culture, Area 10 Abuja while the time was 3 pm prompt.
A close source however explained that the decision by Oshiomhole to drop out of the race was due to his Senatorial ambition in his native Edo North constituency.
Oshiomhole had on April 5 during his 70th birthday celebration at his Iyamho country home, Etsako West Local Government Area of Edo State announced his intention to grab the APC ticket, a move which was greeted with a lot of enthusiasm.
The source added that it was obvious that the chances of the ex-governor clinching the presidential ticket of the APC were very remote and would have ended up losing out in the Senatorial race after failing in his presidential bid.
He said that it would have been mission impossible to persuade the winner of the ruling party’s Senatorial primary, most especially if it was incumbent Senator Francis Alimikhena, to step down for him after crashing out in the presidential primary which was eventually won by former Lagos State Governor Bola Tinubu on June 8 in Abuja.
The source added: “The Senatorial primary was before the presidential. There is no way he could have gun for the two tickets as it would have amounted to greed and resulted in disaffection among the supporters.
“There would have been a lot of hard feelings if the winner of the Edo North senatorial primary was to be asked to step down for Oshiomhole in the event that he lost out in the presidential primary.
Continuing, the source explained that there would have been a disruption of the zoning arrangement as the Senatorial ticket will most likely have remained in Etsako East Local Government Area while the House of Representatives goes to either Etsako West or remain in Central where incumbent Johnson Oghuma hails from.
According to him, demands for a reshuffle that echoes a game of musical chairs after the National Assembly and presidential primaries, in a determined effort to accommodate Oshiomhole, would have caused a lot of bad belly and confusion.
He said: “Oshiomhole bowed out of the presidential primary and concentrated on his Senatorial ambition when he realized the implications. His action would have amounted to the proverbial story of the greedy hunter who pursues an elephant and a rat at the same time only to end up losing both.”
The declaration was a stillbirth following the sudden realization of the implication as a statement later on April 29 by Oshioke announced the postponement of the event.
He wrote: “The proposed formal declaration of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole for the office of President, Federal Republic of Nigeria on the platform of APC which was advertised to hold today, April 29th 2022 at the Cyprian Ekwensi Center for Arts and Culture Abuja is hereby postponed while a new date for the event will be communicated appropriately.
“We are deeply sorry for the inconveniences this unavoidable postponement may have caused numerous supporters of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole across the country.”
