APC faithful, staff celebrate as court sacks Oshiomole

The national headquarters of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was on Wednesday thrown into a frenzy mood when the news of an FCT High Court stopping Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, from parading himself as the party’s national chairman, spilled into the secretariat, resulting in many of the staff celebrate endlessly.

Pockets of the members of staff were seeing standing in small groups, discussing in hush tones and rejoicing over the court ruling suspending. Some of them that had complained hitherto endlessly to what they described as the harshness of their national chairman, told newsmen in confidence that he should eat the humble pie and not apply
for stay of execution.

According to them, the party had suffered serious setbacks due to the spate of crises that had rocked the party since his assumption of office. “We cannot wait to see him leave the party. He has been too insensitive to the welfare of the staff. He has tried his best and should allow another person to take over and move the party forward,” they seem to agree in unison.

Similarly, some party chieftains have described the suspension of the national chairman as a move that would bring sanity to the party. They lamented that the party had become so divided that so many chieftains had stayed away.
Reacting formally, the APC national vice-chairman, North East, Comrade Salihu Mustapha, insisted that Oshiomhole had seized to be the chairman of the party with the court ruling.

He warned that henceforth any directives given by the erstwhile national chairman should not be honoured and if honoured would be illegal. Mustapha claimed that the suspended national chairman was about to issue a statement announcing Waziri Bulama as the acting national secretary. He warned that “any such statement from the Oshiomhole is illegal.”

Speaking to newsmen in a telephone conversation, Mustapha said: “Immediately the court injunction was given, the national chairman called the party national publicity secretary to issue a statement to the press that Bulama was the acting national secretary of the party.

“I believe you guys are aware of the meeting held about a month ago on that matter, which ended without a decision. Since then there has not been a decision as to the replacement of the secretary. “The chairman is about to create more chaos within the party as he gave the order. The public should know that any decision that Oshiomhole makes henceforth is an illegal decision and will not hold.

“We will keep our fingers crossed until the court decides. I am saying this so that there can be no two acting national secretaries and there can be no affirmation from a national chairman that has been suspended,” he warned.
Quizzed further on whether he will accept if the party announced Bulama as the party secretary, he replied: “The party cannot announce Bulama, who is the party?”

He stated that the person that should hold the position of the acting national chairman must be the most senior person in the party. An FCT High Court, Abuja on Wednesday suspended the APC National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole. The case was instituted by Oluwale Afolabi at the Abuja High Court.

Justice Danlami Senchi of the Abuja High Court, in the suspension ordered, asked Oshiomhole to step down pending the determination of the substantive suit seeking his perpetual removal as the APC chairman. There have been calls from sections of the APC for Oshiomhole to resign since he was suspended by the Edo State chapter of the party last November. Last week, two different groups protested for and against the removal of Oshiomhole as national chairman.