Delta APC Crisis: Oshiomhole defies court order swears-in factional chairman

By Ovasa Ogaga,

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The crisis rocking the Delta State chapter of the All Progressives Congress on Monday escalated following the alleged swearing-in of the factional chairman of the party, Prophet Jones Erue by the Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, National Chairman of the APC.

This is coming despite a subsisting court order restraining Oshiomhole and the APC from recognizing any other person than the Chief Cyril Ogodo-led State Working Committee that was sworn-in by the then Chief John Odigie-Oyegun-led NWC. There are about 4 other suits already ongoing in the matter.

Recall that Oshiomhole just two days after his assumption of office as the party’s national chairman had assisted the Ogboru/Agege faction to procure a consent judgment setting outside the Executives duly elected and inaugurated by the Chief John Oyegun-led NWC, a move that has torn the party apart in Delta.

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To forestall further action, some members of Chief Cyril Ogodo led SWC which was duly elected by congress conducted by the Oyegun-NWC and inaugurated by same had challenged the party’s national chairman action obtaining a High court restraining order stopping inauguration of any other SWC, except that led by Ogodo.

But in what some the party’s faithful described as reign of impunity, Oshiomhole in his bid to dismantle what he perceived as Oyegun loyalist structure in a vindictive move handed the party to the group of chief Great Ogboru, the serial governorship aspirant in Delta State who conducted a parallel congress.

Meanwhile, Oshiomhole’s action has since started generating tension in the party in the state with many stakeholders saying that the action is capable of dwindling the party’s chances of winning Delta state with the shutting out of other key stakeholders who has sustained the party before the entrant of Ogboru’s group.

Reacting to this development, the party’s state publicity secretary, Mr Moses Kamanya called on the party faithfuls to remain calm, stressing that the National Chairman cannot be above the law, and that there is no place for the reign of impunity in APC.

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According to him; “if what we read in the media is true, it therefore confirm our fear that the National Chairman in his bid to remove those he feels didn’t support his aspiration, may have decided to throw away the baby and the bathwater.

“One would have expected Oshiomhole to reach out to both parties in Delta and look for a way to reconcile them, not taking side even where there is an order of a court forbidding him from acting to the contrary, this total disregard to the rule of law will not do the party any good.

“By his action, he telling all of us who have kept the APC together since 2013 that we can go to hell, that he does not care, but we have good news for him, we are not bound by any act of illegality as the present action of the national chairman represent.

“If Oshiomhole believes that Ogboru and Omo-Agege alone will win the 2019 election for APC in Delta, he must be joking, because if Ogboru has such capacity he would have won in AD, DPP and Labour Party.

“So, if the NWC of our party wants to win, they have to retrace their step on the Delta APC crisis and allow the rule of law to take place, because Oshiomhole’s actions so far have compounded the crisis,” adding that they will resist any acts of impunity no matter where it’s coming from.