Oshiomhole Explains Why 24 APC Govs Shunned Meeting Called By Buhari

The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, has offered explanations as to why all 24 governors elected on the platform of the party were absent at the inaugural meeting of the party’s presidential campaign council on Thursday.

THE WHISTLER had earlier reported that the APC governors were absent at the meeting summoned by President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House in Abuja on Wednesday.

The President summoned the meeting to enable the campaign council consider and approve operational modalities to be followed in the 2019 elections.

The APC governors, who are supposed to coordinate the party’s campaigns in their respective states, were however absent, causing raised eyebrows.

But speaking to State House correspondents after the meeting, Oshiomhole said the governors were absent “because they are governors, they are governing their states.”

“Don’t forget that elections are not defined in Abuja, it will take place in the 36 states and I am sure there are APC members who are campaigning for the House of Assembly, various federal house and senate constituencies, governorship constituencies.

“So it will not be helpful to bring them to Abuja. Here, it is about policies, it will be consummated and translated to practice across the 36 states, 774 local governments and wards,” said the APC Chairman.

On the challenges being faced by Nigerians under the Buhari government, Oshiomhole said: “You know in the country today , given the challenges of survival, people tend to forget where we are coming from, they just look at where we are.

“There is a saying that except you know and remember where you are coming from, you cannot appreciate where you are.

“Even in the life of a man, those who look at those in their front will never thank God enough but when you look at your back and see those behind, then you will appreciate that you have made a lot of progress.

“You know that the business of construction is even much more challenging than when you are building a complete new house.

“So when you are saddled with the responsibility of repositioning an economy that has been so battered. Even in the face of surplus budgeting, the government was borrowing money.”

“If you look at budget of five, 10 years ago, you will find that almost the entire earnings of the government went into the current expenditure which is why this government with lower revenue is spending more on infrastructure,” he said.