APC to VON DG: You are wrong to call for Oshiomhole’s sack

The Director-General of the Voice of Nigeria, Osita Okechukwu, has been told by the All Progressives Congress in Enugu State that it was wrong for him and others to be calling for the sack of the National Chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole, over the crisis trailing its primaries.
This was made known by the Enugu State Chairman of the APC, Dr. Ben Nwoye, on Thursday when he spoke with newsmen.
Nwoye insisted that the primaries conducted by his party in Enugu State were free, fair and credible, wondering why Oshiomhole’s critics should go so extreme to castigate him, invariably pulling down the house they have helped to build.
Nwoye appealed to Okechukwu and other aggrieved members of the party to use the opportunity provided by the reconciliation committee set up by the party in the state to restore peace, stressing that the VON boss is a respectable party leader and a founding member of the party in the state.
He said: “While we respect Okechukwu’s opinion, he is not entitled to his facts.
“Oshiomhole is God sent to APC and he has been building bridges where (John Odigie) Oyegun left.
“Oshiomhole took over a few months ago but he has won elections.
“Enugu State APC still endorses the leadership of Oshiomhole.
“We have been begging Osita Okechukwu to come back but he has gone on air to make unguarded utterances inimical to our party.
“This action is unexpected of a leader.
“The primaries conducted in Enugu State were credible.
“In every election, people contest to win but so many factors determine who wins.
“You cannot destroy the house you built because you lost.
“Some of us who lost, for anger, they are leaving to unknown parties.
“For instance, there is no mathematics that will arise for an All Progressives Grand Alliance senatorial candidate to win in Enugu State because the party is not in existence in the state.
“We have held elections before now and before Ayogu Eze joined the party, Ifeanyi Nwoga was making waves.
“He was a front-runner until Ben Eche, Ogara, Akabue joined.
“And Senator Ayogu Eze was the last to join and he won the ticket.”
Reacting to the development, Okechukwu said in a statement: “I understand where Ben Nwoye is coming from.
“He is defending his garri. ‎
“You can imagine a man who Juliet Ibekaku had bruised with court cases arising from factional battle with Okey Ogbodo.
“He has no other option than to defend the indefensible.
“Ask him whether anyone from Enugu State is chairman of a panel of any sort, while Edo State has almost 30 per cent of the total of 37 chairmen of primary election panels.”