The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole on Friday formally presented the party’s new Deputy National Chairman, Abiola Ajimobi, to President Muhammadu Buhari.
The presentation of Ajimobi, according to sources was done despite the opposition from Ekiti State chapter of the party.
Oshiomhole, said that Ajimobi’s appointment to the position of deputy chairman was a popular decision of the Southwest region.
According to him, democracy allows for the dissent by Ekiti State but also allows the majority, being the other five Southwest States, to have their way.
He said, “I came essentially to present the former governor of Ogun State, Abiola Ajimobi whom the South West has nominated to fill the void arising from the vacancy of the Deputy National Chairman, South, created by the appointment of the minister of Industry, Trade and Investment.
“Of course, Mr President already knows him, he hosted us a couple of times when he was governor of Oyo State and played a pioneering role in the formation of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“Obviously, he is not a stranger to the President, it’s just a way of formality that I have to present him. Mr President was delighted that someone with his background – a complete gentleman, he has been in the oil industry, a senator and a two-term governor.
“So he will bring on board a wealth of experience that will help to reinforce the quality of leadership of the All Progressives Congress. ”
He also commended President Buhari for slashing petrol price to N125 per litre in view of the global drop in crude oil price.
When Ajimobi was asked on his reaction to the protest by the Publicity Secretary of APC in Ekiti State that they don’t accept him as the Deputy National Chairman South, Oshiomhole interjected and said that it was only one out of the five states from South West that opposed the nomination.
He said, “I don’t think it’s fair to put this question to him. We are in a democracy, we have six states in the South West, and this position is zones to the South West.
“The South West has met, and there were five states in support and one state (Ekiti) opposing both at governorship level and at the party’s structural level. ”
