Gov. Adam Oshiomhole of Edo on Monday said that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, a
former Vice President, could not be a godfather to the All
Progressives Congress (APC). Oshiomhole made this known when he spoke with newsmen after paying a solidarity visit to APC secretariat in Asaba.
He
said that it was not possible for Atiku to become godfather to a party
he did not form, adding that “Atiku came to join what already existed,
so he cannot be a father to APC.
“But what you should talk about
Atiku joining APC is the fact that such an eminent Nigerian, one time
vice president of a ruling party can find comfort in leaving the party
to join the alternative platform. “I think that is the big story. You should find out how those he left behind feel and what that amounts to,” Oshiomhole said.
The governor also said that the worries were that of the political party he left to join the APC.
On
the election time table, he said that the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) had some
explanation to make on why it
decided to climb “a tree from the top rather than from the bottom’’.
He noted that several elections had been conducted in the country and the presidential election had never come first until now.
Oshiomhole said that if INEC failed in the presidential elections all other elections would equally fail.
He
said that it would have been proper for INEC to do some test running
with smaller units first and learn lessons and improve on the method
before the presidential which he called the big one.
Oshiomhole
said that he was in Delta to meet with the interim leadership of the
party to discuss issues affecting the party, its formation and the
forthcoming registration exercise and encourage them.
He said
that what distinguished APC from other political party was that it was
founded on the principle of popular participation that was all-inclusive
rather than politics of exclusion.
He said that the party might be new, but the leaders were not new to partisan politics.
The
governor said that APC leaders were working hard to entrench it not
only in the hearts of party members but actually in the heart of all the
people of Delta.
Social Plugin