Ahead of the governorship elections in Edo and Ondo states, governors elected on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) have demanded automatic tickets for Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo and his counterpart in Ondo, Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu, our heritage reporters has gathered.
According to a credible source, the governors under the aegis of the Progressives Governors’ Forum (PGF) took the decision at a closed door meeting held at the Kebbi Governor’s Lodge on Wednesday night which lasted till Thursday morning in Abuja.
Both Obaseki and Akeredolu are among the forces who want Adams Oshiomhole ousted as the party’s national chairman.
It would be recalled that the governors had a meeting earlier on Monday where they all agreed to postpone the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the party where Oshiomhole’s fate would have been sealed.
While fielding questions from journalists after the first meeting, chairman of APC Governors’ Forum and Kebbi State governor, Atiku Bagudu, said President Muhammadu Buhari obliged the request of the governors on the postponement of the meeting.
He also said they informed Buhari that the governors had agreed to resolve all lingering crises bedeviling the party, a request he also obliged.
“Also, we seek Mr. President’s support to postpone the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting that is scheduled for tomorrow until such a time that the governors are ready to report back,” he said.
Asked what was the president’s response to the request, Bagudu said Buhari gladly acceded to the demand because it was the APC governors’ unanimous decision.
“Among the issues we discussed was the resolution that the governors have taken to work together to resolve all the issues in the party,” he said.
Speaking on what necessitated Wednesday’s meeting, our source said the governors were worried because Oshiomhole upon resumption of office on Tuesday never mentioned anything about his rift with Obaseki and Akeredolu but only spoke about his reconciliation with estranged members of the National Working Committee (NWC) whom he had earlier suspended from office.
“The governors met on Wednesday evening at the Kebbi Governor’s Lodge and there it was agreed that there should be automatic tickets for Governor Obaseki and Akeredolu.
Any contrary action by the national chairman is a sign that he is not really sincere about finding a lasting solution to the crisis rocking the party”.
When contacted, Governor Akeredolu in a chat with our correspondent said he couldn’t comment on the resolution reached at the meeting because he was absent.
Speaking to our correspondent, Festus Asiriuwa, an APC chieftain from Edo State, while lauding the governors’ decision said Oshiomhole’s silence hours after the faction loyal to him in Edo APC opened a new secretariat shows that he is not ready for genuine reconciliation.
