The National Chairman of the All
Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, on Monday, criticized those
attacking President Muhammadu Buhari over the credibility of the 43 ministerial
list submitted to the Senate for screening.
Oshiohmole made his position
known when he addressed State House correspondents after a closed-door meeting
with President Buhari at the State House, Abuja.
Oshiomhole said the ministerial
list, contrary to statements that it was based on political patronage, was
meant to boost formation of an all-inclusive government.
The APC leader stressed that the
President was magnanimous to have nominated up to two ministers from state that
contributed less than five per cent of the President’s votes in the 2019
Presidential election.
He said: ”Whose credibility? How
credible are some of those who are talking?
”The point is that I don’t know
if there is a Nigerian who knows every Nigerian.
”Even as I can say that I have
worked for Nigerian people at all levels, as a worker in a factory, as
President of the NLC, as governor of a state and now as a national chairman of
a party, there are too many Nigerians I will never be able to know.
“The screening process is meant
to enable those watching, it is not for nothing that it is televised, it is to
enable Nigerians see who these people are.
“But you will find that people
started dismissing the list even before they saw it, just like some other
things that Nigerians dismiss without knowing the meaning.
“So, what you and I should insist
on is that in the President’s second term, in this next level, our party, our
government at the centre, state and local government level must deliver. That
is the entry point for every Nigerian.
”And when you talk of patronage,
should we appoint…have you heard of Americans appointing Russians because they
are experts to go and preside over their Ministries, Departments and Agencies
(MDAs)?
“Even in your newspapers do you
invite me as APC chairman to come and write your editorial?” He queried.
According to Oshiohmole, the
President has shown the capacity to patronize all geo-political zones of the
country including where he did not win election, NAN reports.
He added: “Otherwise, where we
got less than five percent, I saw two ministers coming from that state
(Anambra), inspite of the fact that he got less than five percent there.
”That speaks volumes about a
large heart, to accommodate, appreciate and to have an all inclusive
government.”
The APC boss, who narrated his
achievements so far, expressed optimism that the incoming ministers would
perform creditably well after taking oath of office in days to come.
“I am very optimistic that these
ministers coming, all of us working together, the party, the executive which
the ministers belong and the National Assembly where we have overwhelming
majority, we have what it takes to take Nigeria to the next level and the next
level we are going there,” he said.
He added that Nigerians were
appreciating the APC better under his leadership, saying that the party had
made tremendous progress.
”You talk about rumours, what
about what you see. I am very proud to say that under my chairmanship, our
party has made tremendous progress.
”I am not at the mercy of fake or
even disgruntled analysts. I write my own testimonials by my self in terms of
what l do, how I do it and what the unbiased people say.
“Irrespective of all the
speculations, for example, it was said that 17 governors were going to remove
Oshiomhole, what happened? At the end, we provided leadership and had more
votes.
”In the 2015 election, the
difference between our candidate and President Jonathan then, was slightly less
than three million, but this time around, we had slightly less than four
million.
”That is the way it works and I
believe that Nigerians under my leadership appreciated APC better under my
Chairmanship, as evidenced by the fact that we had more Senators, House of
Representatives members this year, than before.”
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