Former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, said that the Governor of Ekiti State and APC presidential aspirant, Kayode Fayemi, once wanted him to commit electoral fraud in the APC which he (Oshiomhole) declined.
The former Edo State Governor stated this in an interview on Channels Television, adding that Governor Fayemi made the request when he (Oshiomhole) served as the sitting chairman of the ruling party.
He said, “I said it in one of the meetings I had with Governor Kayode Fayemi who told me bluntly to my face that, “Chairman, what we are saying is, you can go and conduct election to fulfil all righteousness, but when we say; this is the person that should emerge, just make sure he is the person that emerges.”
“And I told Governor Fayemi that, ‘That would be your own portion; not me’. I cannot be used as an instrument of fraud, to invite people to buy forms when I have already decided, regardless of how people will vote; this is the man that will prevail.
“You want to use me for such a purpose, I said no, I said at worst, if you find the number to get rid of me, I will rather leave the job with my honour than sacrifice my honour to keep the job,” Oshiomhole said.
In November 2019, Oshiomhole was suspended from the APC after 18 Local Government Chairmen of the party in his native state of Edo passed a vote of no confidence on him. He was accused of trying to disintegrate the party in Edo State.
But a faction of the party loyal to Oshiomhole declared his suspension null and void and then suspended Governor Godwin Obaseki of the state whom they said orchestrated Oshiomhole’s suspension.
On March 4, 2020, a High Court sitting in Abuja ordered the suspension of Oshiomhole from office of the National Chairman of the APC, stating that having been suspended from the party, Oshiomhole was no longer a member of the party and could not possibly continue to discharge his official responsibilities as national chairman
