The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Osun State, Senator Iyiola Omisore, has vowed to head for the Supreme Court following the dismissal of his suit by the Court of Appeal in Akure, seeking to upturn the victory of Governor Rauf Aregbesola at the August 2014 governorship election in Osun State.
Omisore spoke to our correspondent on the telephone through his media aide, Mr. Victor Oriola to react to the dismissal of his appeal on Thursday.
He said Omisore was not going to let the alleged manipulation of the August 9, 2014 governorship election go without fighting it to the very end.
He said, ” We will go through the whole gamut of the legal process. We believe we have a good case and we will pursue it to the end. All the areas overlooked at the tribunal and the Appeal Court will be visited by the Supreme Court.”
The Justice Elizabeth Ikpejime-led Election Petitions Tribunal had, on February 6, dismissed Omisore’s petition against Aregbesola.
Not satisfied with the verdict of the lower tribunal, the petitioner filed an appeal against it to the Appeal Court in Akure, the Ondo State capital.
But the appellate court also dismissed the PDP candidate’s appeal.
Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress in Osun State has hailed the judgment, describing it as a confirmation of the rejection of Omisore by the majority of the people of the state.
The state Director of Publicity of the APC, Mr. Kunle Oyatomi, said this in a statement made available to our correspondent in Osogbo on Thursday.
Governorship candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party and the Labour Party in Osun State, Senator Iyiola Omisore and Alhaji Fatai Akinbade respectively on Saturday shunned a radio debate organised for them and Governor Rauf Aregbesola.
Aregbesola – osun debate
The debate which was organised by a United States of America-based International Republican Institute was billed to be broadcast live on Osun State Broadcasting Corporation Osogbo on Saturday.
Aregbesola, who was said to have gone to Mecca for the lesser hajj was said to have cut short his trip and returned to honour the debate but his co-debaters failed to show up.
The Director of Publicity, Research and Strategy of the All Progressives Congress in the state, Mr. Kunle Oyatomi, in a statement said Omisore ran away from the debate.
The statement read, “ The PDP’s gubernatorial candidate in the August 9 election in Osun, Iyiola Omisore, squandered a golden opportunity to confront the incumbent governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, in a public radio debate when he ran away from participating.
“The debate was sponsored by the American-based International Republican Institute and put together by the Osun State Broadcasting Corporation for a live transmission in Osogbo. Saturday.
“Osun citizens had waited with bated breath to hear Omisore articulate his accusations against the governor on such issues as the debt profile of the state, the school reform programme and the vexed issue of capital flight.
“But it turned out to be almost an interview and not a debate because Omisore ran away.
“However, Aregbesola advanced his arguments virtually without challenge that the best thing to have happened in Osun since it was created are his programmes which the PDP wants to destroy.”
Omisore had earlier said that he was ready for a debate with Aregbesola but he expressed the fear that the governor might physically assault him.
The media aide of the LP candidate, Mr. Kayode Oladeji, when contacted said that his principal did not shun the debate because he sent his running mate to represent him at the debate.
Oladeji said the LP candidate had a very urgent and equally important assignment he was attending to hence the decision to send his running mate.
He said, “Alhaji Akinbade still sent his running mate, Mr. Michael Adenipekun,to go and represent him.
“He got there but they said that they would not accept any representative so, it is not right to say Akinbade shunned the debate, you cannot divorce the office of the governor from the deputy cause they are running on a joint ticket.”
Omisore had earlier said he was ready for a debate with Aregbesola but he expressed the fear that the governor might physically assault him.
Omisore said, “How can I be afraid of engaging him in a debate? But when argument is being drawn between two unequal parties, the weaker of the two may result to physical assault and harassment. We don’t want this to happen.
“Aregbesola has not hidden the fact that he has personal hatred for me and people tell me all sorts of lies he fabricates to disparage me. You don’t expect more than that from a barely literate politician like him.
You remember that Aregbesola presented O’level to INEC. So we need an assurance that Ogbeni will not resort to physical assault if he is confronted with hard facts with evidence.
“ Once we are assured that decorum would be allowed and that our safety is guaranteed, I am ready for the debate.”
Iyiola Omisore, the former deputy governor of Osun State has emerged the winner of the primaries of People Democratic party in the state.
PDP
Omisore contended with a former Minister of Youth Development, and Oluwole Oke, a former member of House of Representatives to win the primaries.
The announcement was made on Saturday by the Chairman of the Organising Committee, Adamu Aliero, a former governor of Kebbi State, that Omisore has won.
Omisore who is from Ile-Ife in Osun State represented Osun East, in the Senate from 2003 to 2011 on the same platform.
He was in 1999-2002, the deputy governor of Osun State under the platform of PDP.
“Mr. Akande is now the acting national chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC; the ruling party in Osun.
In 2002, Mr. Omisore was accused of being responsible for the murder of Bola Ige, then Nigeria’s Attorney General and Justice Minister, who was murdered in his house on December 23, 2001. Mr. Ige was from Ilesha.
Mr. Omisore was detained for almost two years and won his 2003 senatorial election while in prison. He was eventually cleared by the court and freed.
Mr. Omisore is expected to be the man opponent to Governor Rauf Aregbesola of the APC in the August 9 governorship election in the state.
