The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has accused Nigeria’s president Muhammadu Buhari of shielding the chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) Adams Oshiomhole from being prosecuted over allegations of corruption.
Oshiomhole was reportedly interrogated for nine hours by the Department of State Service (DSS) after he was accused of receiving a bribe to manipulate the APC’s primary elections across the country by some aggrieved governors of the ruling party.
“PDP notes that Oshiomhole’s swift flight out of the country, at the heat of the investigation, is suspect and goes to confirm allegations that Buhari Presidency is shielding him from prosecution for fear that his investigation would implicate certain interests at the Presidency and the APC,” PDP spokesman Kola Ologbondiyan said in a tweet.
“It is ludicrous that the APC, in its lying proclivities, believes that by dismissing Oshiomhole’s arrest as a rumour and aiding him to momentarily flee the country, it would succeed in getting him off the DSS hook as well as sweeping the matter out of public discourse with its famished broom.”
The APC chairman was also reportedly compelled to resign, but he refused on grounds of having president Buhari’s backing.
In the last few weeks, there have been protests against Oshiomhole and the party hierarchy on allegations that Oshiomhole was biased in the outcome of the party’s primary elections.
At least three state governors Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun, Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo and River’s Rochas Okorocha are miffed by the conduct of the primaries in their states.
The rancour-filled primaries in Zamfara saw the Independent National Electoral Commission banning the APC from presenting any candidate in the next state for the 2019 general elections.
States like Rivers. Kaduna, Adamawa and Ondo have ongoing crises that some stakeholders involved said have not been properly handled by the party leadership.
Earlier in October, Nigerian First Lady Aisha Buhari criticised the party for removing some aspirants’ names from the lists of persons to contest election primaries.
Mrs Buhari said the party primaries were against the tenets of the party such that it would not be difficult to dissociate her from the process.
