Oshiomhole APC chairmanship faced opposition as former governors feared he would impose Bola Tinubu as presidential candidate in 2023
Edo North Senator Adams Oshiomhole has revealed why some former governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC) opposed his tenure as the party’s national chairman.
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Speaking on News Central’s 60 Minutes with Mr Kay, Oshiomhole said that certain former APC governors feared he would impose President Bola Tinubu as the party’s presidential candidate in 2023.
“My tenure as national chairman was defined by the defence of party rules and the conduct of free and fair primaries,” Oshiomhole explained.
He described how some governors challenged his authority, noting that the then governor of Ogun State refused to comply with the National Working Committee’s rules despite a Supreme Court ruling affirming the unity of registered political parties.
Oshiomhole said the governor conducted his own primaries, which the party refused to recognise, and later sponsored candidates in another party, the Allied Peoples Movement (APM).
“When we had evidence that he was campaigning against the party, the NWC that I chaired, in line with the party constitution, gave him a query.
He didn’t answer and we suspended him,” Oshiomhole said.
The senator added that governors told him privately that their opposition was not personal but motivated by fears he would enforce Bola Tinubu’s candidacy.
“I have told people that what you become in life is not so much of what you pray for, it’s what God has willed for you,” he said.
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Oshiomhole’s remarks shed light on the internal tensions within APC during a critical period leading up to the 2023 elections, highlighting his insistence on party rules and democratic processes.
