By Jethro Ibileke
National chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, has explained why he shunned the reception rally of Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu.
Oshiomhole who addressed journalists at his GRA residence in Benin, where Ize-Iyamu was presented to him, said he stayed away in order to sustain the peace of the party.
“Our party doesn’t believe in rigging, certainly not in this state. We have entrenched the culture of one-man-one-vote, and the name of the game is not threat, the name of the game is persuasion. That day, everybody is equal,” he said.
Oshiomhole who blamed the state Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, for the crisis rocking the state chapter of the party, however noted that the real victim of the crisis will be Governor Godwin Obaseki.
“The real man who is the executioner of violence is Philip Shaibu, but he doesn’t understand that the real damage is to his Principal, and his Principal is not able to see through their own frustration,” he said.
He however insisted that members of the party must work to sustain peace.
“There will be peace. Today we have tested that, but I wasn’t there, which shows that this peace is not in the hands of one man. Once the party below is united, that is what matters and that is what we have displayed today, where people from all parts of the state came with one objective, to welcome people into the party.
“You have tension when you find out that the local party members are fighting each other, because, party membership,you can remain there as long as you over the rules of the party.
“There is no limit for being a member of APC, but there is limit for being chairman, there is limit for being governor and there is limit to the tenure of being president, but there is no limit for being a member.
“So, once the members are united and comfortable, we will sustain the path of peace. That is why I opted not to go there today,” he said.