APC Chairmanship: Oshiomhole vows party supremacy over Buhari, others
Former governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole, has promised to ensure party supremacy if elected chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The party holds its national convention on June 23 in Abuja to elect a new leadership and Mr Oshiomhole is the front runner for the office of chairman.
He said if he does win, he would ensure President Muhammadu Buhari and other government officials bow to the dictates of the party.
He was speaking in Abuja on Wednesday at an interactive session with young members of the APC.
Mr Oshiomhole said as national chairman, “We will subject everyone to the dictates of our constitution and remain faithful to the manifesto of the party on the basis of which we were elected by the Nigerian people.”
“My hope is that, if by the special grace of God I become the APC National Chairman, we will need to be very clear about all these and other issues and that anyone elected on our platform, including the president, will be expected to conduct government and governance in a way that promotes the core values of progressive governance.”
“The whole idea of seeking election on a party platform is that there is a burden of ideas to be shared and that bind us together.
“To my recollection, we haven’t had any serious platform as a party where the agenda was to debate policy options and choices attached to each policy we fought for.
“To me, this is what a political party should represent. It is not only meeting during elections, but meet from time to time to discuss policy options.”
He stressed it is the duty of political parties, particularly a governing party to set policies on how society is run.
“Policies on the economy, social policies, policies that affect how our society is organised and run and even issues of crime, to have a policy on how to fight crime. That way, we will be discussing issues.”
He condemned the promotion of ethnic and religious matters by major political parties in the country.
“I think that we are in a situation that the only thing that commands banner headlines in our media today are more of issues of religion and ethnicity.
“As we speak, most of us have simply become ethnic champions and we are moved by religious sentiments. Important as religion is, it becomes dysfunctional if our lives is simply defined by the way we think or join a political party based on our religious belief.”
The aspirant also expressed confidence in the chances of the APC at the next general elections.
“I believe that everything considered, we are still the favored party, but we must not take the support of the people for granted. My task is to be able to assist government at all levels to work in a way that reflects the core values of the APC.”