By; SUNDAY ODE, Abuja
National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomole on Monday dismissed critics of President Muhammadu Buhari’s ministerial list.
He also dismissed insinuations that the party is in turmoil saying under his watch they have made tremendous progress.
The APC boss spoke to State House correspondents after meeting with President Buhari at the presidential Villa, Abuja
The opposition People Democratic Party (PDP) had described the list as uninspiring and colourless while some have labeled the it a campaign list.
But Oshiomole explained that it is the norm all over the world for party men to be compensated with appointments.
According to him,Nigerians should insist that the President and governors on the platform of the party deliver the much needed change which he assured they would.
He said “Whose credibility? How credible are some of those who are talking? The point is that I don’t know if there is a Nigerian who knows every Nigerian. Even as I can say that I have worked for Nigerian people at all levels, as a worker in a factory, as President of the NLC, as governor of a state and now as a national chairman of a party, there are too many Nigerians I will never be able to know.
“The screening process is meant to enable those watching, it is not for nothing that it is televised, it is to enable Nigerians see who these people are. But you will find that people started dismissing the list even before the saw it, just like some other things that Nigerians dismiss without knowing the meaning.
“So, what you and I should insist on is that in the president’s second term, in this next level, our party, our government at the center, state and local government level must deliver. That is the entry point for every Nigerian.
“And when you talk of patronage, should we appoint…have you heard of Americans pointing Russians because they are experts to go and preside over their MDAs? Even in your newspapers do you invite me as APC chairman to come and write your editorial?
“Patronage can be positive or negative but if there is one man who has shown the capacity to patronize all including where he did not win election, it is President Muhammadu Buhari.
“Otherwise, where we got less than five percent, I saw two ministers coming from that state, inspite of the fact that he got less than five percent there. That speaks volumes about a large heart, to accommodate, appreciate and to have an all inclusive government.
“I am very optimistic that these ministers coming all of us working together, the party, the executive which the ministers belong and the National Assembly where we have overwhelming majority, we have what it takes to take Nigeria to the next level and the next level we are going there,” he added.
