By Bob MajiriOghene Etemiku
Abuja, Nigeria – Adams Oshiomhole, the erstwhile National chairman of Nigeria’s ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) who on Friday April 29, 2022 indefinitely suspended his declaration to contest as president of Nigeria, finally declared on Wednesday at the Cyprian Ekwensi Arts and Cultural Centre, Abuja.
The former governor of Edo State told Nigerians that he would sustain the Buhari agricultural program, declare state of emergency in poverty and education and restructure the current President’s change agenda.
Alltimepost.com correspondent in Abuja who visited the venue of the said declaration found posters of Adams Oshiomhole on the fence of the Arts complex.
While other presidential aspirants were making their declarations either at the Yar’Adua Centre or the International Conference Centre (ICC), watchers of the political space at the national level say they are baffled at the choice of the Oshiomhole declaration.
Ever a busy hub for artisans and small businesses, the International Conference Centre (ICC) would have been an ideal space, to present Adams Oshiomhole as a man of the people.
Our investigation revealed however, that the expected crowd did not show up. A staff of the Social Development Secretariat, who told us that she shook hands with Oshiomhole, said that the hall where he declared was as ordinary as it can ever be.
“Oshiomhole spoke for long, but my brother I can’t remember any serious thing he said. I collected the bag they were sharing, and when I looked inside, it was empty – no food, no drink, no money,” the staff of the secretariat who spoke to Alltimepost.com.
Alltimepost received a forwarded message that indicated that Adams Oshiomhole was going to declare to contest to be president of Nigeria on Friday, April 29, 2022 at the Cyprian Ekwensi Centre for Arts and Culture, Area 10 Abuja.
The message was signed by Victor Oshioke, who indicated that the slogan that would drive the Oshiomhole campaign would be ‘Restructure the Change’.
When Alltimepost got to the venue however, staff of the Cyprian Ekwensi said that the planned declaration was suspended indefinitely ‘at the last minute’.
An Alltimepost.com source who was at the Oshiomhole residence before the botched declaration of Friday, April 29 2022 said that there were long and very intense meetings among party stalwarts that lasted into the wee hours of the day.
A source told Alltimepost.com that while a small group of his supporters were seen sitting in groups around premises in Abuja having discussions, Oshiomhole had an inner caucus meeting with his kitchen cabinet in an inner chamber.
It was not immediately clear why the former APC chairman suspended his declaration of Friday April 29, 2022. Feelers indicate however that pressure was being mounted on him to stick to his earlier plan to contest the senatorial position of Edo North.
In addition, incumbent Senator representing Edo North had mounted a virulent campaign against the former APC chair, referring to him as ‘edionwan’, Edo language for sterile old man.
Our sources told us that Adams Oshiomhole had already prepared a document titled ‘Restructure the Change’, wherein the former labor leader-turned politician said that he would tackle insecurity, among others pressing problems in the country.
As at Wednesday May 5, when he eventually made his declaration at the Cyprian Ekwensi Arts and Cultural Centre, there were as many as 10 other APC politicians who have also made declarations.
According to Premium Times, currently, over 15 persons have declared interest in the battle for the ticket of the APC. They include the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo; former Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu; Minister for Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi; Rochas Okorocha; Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, and others.
There are also four governors in the race, namely Ben Ayade of Cross River State, Yahaya Bello of Kogi, and Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti and David Umahi of Ebonyi State. Others who have also declared to be Nigeria’s president include Pastor Tunde Bakare.
With many political actors throwing in their hats in the ring to be Nigeria’s next president after the Buhari catastrophe, tongues have started wagging over the real reasons why they are making these declarations. Watchers of the evolving political drama say that a lot of the politicians making these declarations just want to be relevant.
Some watchers of the unfolding drama in the political environment in Nigeria say that is not the case. One of them gave Alltimespost.com the hint that there are this many politicians making these declarations because they stand to gain some money.
“Big players in Nigeria’s business community are paying as much as one million dollars to politicians they could fund through the back door. They want to bet on anyone of these politicians to be able to protect their interests if, and when they eventually become president. If you think that Oshiomhole suspended his declaration because of logistics, then you must be a bit naïve,” our source said.
Candidates of the APC seeking to be president are expected to pay as much as N100million to pick up their nomination forms. “If you consider exchange rate today, a million dollars paid by big businesses to these politicians would be about N600million.
“What would be left after they pay N100million for their nomination forms would be N500million,” according to our source.
