Ahead of the September 21 Edo gubernatorial election, a commentator claimed on a live radio program that Adams Oshiomhole, senator representing Edo North and the All Progressives Congress (APC) campaign chairman for the 2024 Edo election, had said that all corrupt politicians who join the APC would be forgiven.
The commentator made this assertion during a morning show called Bright Republic aired on Bright FM 98.7 Abuja on Tuesday, September 10, 2024. When asked to react to a recent statement by the former Edo governor against the wife of the incumbent governor, Betsy Obaseki, the radio guest said he was not surprised, noting that Oshiomhole was the same person who, as APC national chairman, said, “all looters should join the APC and they will be forgiven.”
Controversies have trailed Oshiomhole’s remarks about the Edo First Lady being childless, which came in response to her comment that the APC gubernatorial candidate, Monday Okpebholo, doesn’t have a wife.
Claim: Adams Oshiomhole said that all looters should join the APC and they will be forgiven
Verification
The CDD War Room investigated the claim made by the radio commentator and found it to be misleading.
Multiple media reports show that in January 2019, ahead of that year’s general elections, Oshiomhole, who was the national chairman of the APC at the time, made a remark urging opposition members to join the party during a presidential campaign rally in Benin, Edo State, where the former President Muhammadu Buhari was also present, seeking re-election.
Oshiomhole was quoted as saying, “Mr President, I am told that there are a lot of senior people from PDP who have decided to join forces with President Buhari to take the broom to sweep away PDP and continue to ensure that APC presides over Nigeria.
“The defectors today include my own brother and friend, Henry Duke. He is the former organising secretary of PDP. We have Eshehe, a former vice chairman of PDP, and a leader of PDP Edo North. In fact, once you join APC, all your sins are forgiven.”
Another report quoted him as saying, “We have some PDP defectors. They are, Henry Tenebe, Iluobe….Iluobe means I have done something wrong. Yes, once you join the APC, your sins are forgiven.”
This shows that Oshiomhole made a general remark about leniency towards new members who join the APC, as he did not explicitly mention that those who looted public funds would be pardoned upon joining the party.
Verdict: Misleading
The CDD War Room confirms that Oshiomhole made a general remark about the perceived leniency towards individuals who align with the APC. However, he did not explicitly state that looters who had stolen public funds would be forgiven once they joined the party.