Former Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole will emerge APC Chairman at the convention because no one will stand in his way.
Former Governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole, will now head into the APC national convention of Saturday, June 23, 2018, as the last man standing for the position of Chairman of Nigeria’s governing party.
On Thursday, June 21, Oshiomhole’s last challenger for the position of APC Chairman, Clement Ebri, stepped down from the race, citing party interests and advice from friends and family.
Oshiomhole’s emergence as APC Chairman is now only a matter of time. His coronation will be complete during Saturday’s convention.
Ebri who is a former governor of Cross River State, announced through a letter that he was withdrawing from the race because “all stakeholders must tow in the same rancour free direction as the 2019 general election approaches”.
Pulse can reliably report that Ebri was told by APC chieftains that it would be futile for him to contest the position against Oshiomhole because he was going to lose anyway.
Buhari and governors backing Oshiomhole
Oshiomhole is being backed by all the governors elected on the platform of the APC and President Muhammadu Buhari.
An APC chieftain told Pulse this week that; “President Buhari urged members of the party to support the candidacy of the former Edo state governor owing to his wealth of knowledge and political experience, especially in the APC as one of its founding members who contributed selflessly to the merger process”.
Buhari has always considered Oshiomhole the safest pair of hands to entrust the governing party’s affairs, ahead of his 2019 re-election battle.
Oshiomhole's ability to wow a crowd through speeches and take on the opposition without a care about whose Ox is gored, have long been considered assets within the APC.
Within the decision makers in the APC, Oshiomhole often comes across as pragmatic, hands-on and a bare-knuckled campaigner who will be instrumental on the stomp in the weeks leading to 2019.
Over 6,800 delegates will converge on the Eagle Square in Abuja to choose party members who will occupy 42 positions in the party’s National Working Committee (NWC).
However, 20 party members in the last NWC will return to the new APC executive, unopposed.