Oshiomhole Clarifies Position on APC Revalidation Exercise

A former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Adams Oshiomhole yesterday clarified his position on the revalidation exercise of the party, noting that his statement was misinterpreted and misunderstood.

Oshiomhole, also, reaffirmed his loyalty to President Muhammadu Buhari, dismissing interpretations in some quarters that his comments on the APC registration and revalidation exercise weeks ago amounted to an affront on the President and the leadership of the APC.

He made this clarification in a statement he issued yesterday, faulting the interpretation of his position on the revalidation exercise as made-up claims unreflective of his intentions when he made the comments.

He had expressed reservations on the ‘revalidation’ tag of the ongoing APC membership registration drive while participating in the exercise in his Iyamho country home, Etsako Local Government Area of Edo State.

He had raised also questions on the constitutional soundness of revalidating existing members who had not rescinded their membership and queried whether or not the exercise, for already registered members, did not amount to double registration.

Reflecting on this, a columnist of a prominent newspaper had speculated that Oshiomhole’s comment “is a manifestation of the ‘awakening’ of ‘his crowd’ in a purported challenge to President Buhari and the present leadership of the APC.”

In his statement yesterday, however, Oshiomhole said his advice on the usage of the word ‘update’ as a better tag for the membership registration exercise, as opposed to the ‘revalidation’ used, was informed by the dictates of section 9.4 of the APC constitution, which prescribes the process of regular update of the register.