It is no longer news that the National Executive Committee of the APC
\nhas dissolved it’s National Working Committee thereby pulling the rug
\nunder the feet of Oshiomhole, ending his legal battles in court to
\nregain his position as the national chairman of the APC. Oshiomhole it
\nis said has instructed his lawyers to withdraw his appeal at the Supreme
\nCourt challenging the decision of the Court of Appeal upholding his
\nsuspension from the APC. Indeed, the Supreme Court case has become a
\nmere academic exercise with the dissolution of the NWC of the APC.
\nOshiomhole has also said that he will not challenge the dissolution of
\nthe NWC in court. This particular decision of Oshiomhole is not
\naltruistic. Oshiomhole has been beaten, so he has to join them. The new
\ncaretaker committee has been mandated to conduct a convention of the
\nparty where party leaders would be elected. If Oshiomhole still has his
\nreputation intact, he should not hang on the faint hope that he can
\nre-contest for the position of the party chairmanship at the convention
\nto hold later in the future. Most party members are happy to see his
\nback and would not want to see him again. No thanks to the manner he
\ncarried about his duties as the party chairman. He once said that the
\nreason why some party members are against his leadership was because of
\nhis hard stance on following procedures and principles. This may be
\ncorrect but counter-productive to the overall interest of the party. The
\ninterest of the party should come first before the interest of the
\nmembers. Oshiomhole as a party chairman had found it very difficult to
\nput the interest of the party first where the members interest clash
\nwith the interest of those considered leaders of the party. He has been
\naccused as the reason why the APC lost Rivers and Zamfara States. This
\nmay not be far from being the truth because as national chairman of the
\nAPC, he merely looked on without calling the political gladiators to
\norder for the interest of the party. Oshiomhole carried on with the
\nattitude of instead of his wish or that of the leaders he is subservient
\nto not to prevail, let the party lose. Edo State is a good example of
\nthis attitude.<\/p>\n
In the process of ensuring that Obaseki does not pick the APC\u2019s ticket
\nfor the governorship election coming this September, the APC has lost
\nthe governorship seat of the state. The party once in power is the one
\nin opposition now. It is funny that the APC did not lose the
\ngovernorship seat through the ballot box, but through political
\nshenanigan and manipulation which foundation was laid by Oshiomhole.
\nAPC\u2019s loss is PDP\u2019s gain. This exposes our politics for what it is-
\na medieval scheme of persons without conscience or principle. In the
\nprocess of pursuing a rat, he lost the porcupine. Today, PDP is the
\nparty in power in Edo State. This no doubt will enhance its chances at
\nthe gubernatorial election coming up in September. Moreover, Obaseki now
\nhas the sympathy of the Edo people. And the PDP will not take chances.
\nMost party members see the fall of Oshiomhole as good radiance to bad
\nrubbish. This may be so. I don\u2019t believe that Oshiomhole should simply
\nlick his wounds, and say let bye-gone be bye-gone. Let us move forward
\nunder the illegality of the National Executive Committee. But because he
\nstoked the process that led to his ouster, he may simply lick his wounds
\nand go to sleep. At the end of the day, he is the one that lost while
\nObaseki may have his last laugh when he wins the governorship election
\nthis September.<\/p>\n
The way the National Working Committee of the party was dissolved showed
\nthat President Buhari has been bidding his time and the Oshiomhole and
\nObaseki feud coupled with the Appeal of a Court ruling upholding
\nOshiomhole\u2019s suspension provided the platform for the president to
\nact. Oshiomhole has become the loser in the power game. His suspension
\nengineered by Obaseki has become the ground for the final
\ndemystification of the former labour leader. From the actions of the
\nPresident so far, it is certain that the APC is not happy how it lost
\nthe governorship in Edo State by the inordinate ambition of one man. I
\nam sure that Oshiomhole will regret ever fighting Obaseki. Oshiomhole
\ntook over the leadership of the party at a time the party was looking
\nstabilized except for some minor crisis in some states. But at
\nOshiomhole\u2019s taking over of the party leadership, these crises
\nsnowballed into intricate party disputes which Oshiomhole lacked the
\nwill to resolve or control because of vested interests. Oshiomhole may
\nnot only be a victim of his own undoing but also a victim of the
\ninterest of some party stalwarts. Oshiomhole falsely believed that he
\nhad the interest and support of the President until the National Working
\nCommittee was dissolved unceremoniously. Oshiomhole may have been
\nshocked at how events had developed in the past week and resolved within
\nhimself that it is the end of the road for him. Indeed, it is the end of
\nthe road for him. It is unfortunate that he came, he saw but was
\nconquered. Mr. Oshiomhole will now be fighting to remain politically
\nrelevant. In Edo State, he has lost it and will never regain any
\npolitical relevance again. He may have been used by the powers that be
\nand is now dumped. Dumped for good of the party and vested interests who
\nmay be gunning for the 2023 elections. So the activist labour leader did
\nnot survive the turbulent political storm called the APC. Well, he
\nshould take some Apc tablets, ward off his headache, and have a good
\nsleep.<\/p>\n
Chimezie\u00a0 Elemuo is a lawyer and public affairs analyst.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It is no longer news that the National Executive Committee of the APC has dissolved it’s National Working Committee thereby pulling the rug under the feet of Oshiomhole, ending his…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40426,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-74521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n