Omisore’ll be vindicated, says PDP

In this interview with TUNDE ODESOLA, the acting Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party in Osun State, Bola Ajao, opens up on the recently concluded election Osun State governorship election

What’s your view of the election?

The election has come and gone. But its echoes still reverberate in the land. At a certain stage of the electoral process, we had cause to complain to the Independent National Electoral Commission in respect of the ad hoc staff being recruited for the poll because we had it on good authority that members of the Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme were being recruited. We complained of this infraction to the world before the election. As law-abiding citizens we still went ahead to contest in the election, hoping to get the best electoral practice. I was the agent of the party at the state collation centre, where the results were collated and I told journalists that the figures being bandied at the INEC headquarters, Osogbo, which served as the collation centre did not reflect the true position of the election.

But your position runs contrary to the positions of your party leaders such as President Goodluck Jonathan, the Minister of Police Affairs, Jelili Adesiyan, and Chief Femi Fani-Kayode who have congratulated Aregbesola.

The President and the minister are the custodians of the instrumentality of the powers of the state. They have to show good example, that’s what they have done. It’s we in Osun PDP that are on the ground and that know where the shoes pinch. We have the figures; we have unassailable evidence to show that the election was marred with fraud, malfeasance and we believe that going to the tribunal to seek redress will do our cause good.

Would you say the election was rigged in Boluwaduro Local Government Council, where your party secured an unexpected victory?

The truth is that the PDP in Osun is rock solid on the ground in every local government in the state. That’s the truth. At the fullness of time, the truth will be known. The fact of the matter is that the PDP is fully on the ground in Osun.

The defection of former governors Isiaka Adeleke and Olagunsoye Oyinlola, among other leaders of your party that defected, is seen as a setback to your party in the election.

It’s a mixed grill. Some of them had a little impact. They took advantage of the structure the PDP had built for them and used this in rigging for the APC. Some of them are colossal failures and have lost touch with reality. For instance, Oyinlola lost in his polling unit, ward and local government. This means he’s lost touch with the people and reality. The people are bitter without him because he jettisoned the party that made him governor and national secretary against all odds. No matter the odds stacked against him, he should still have been loyal to the PDP. It was on account of this that the people rejected Oyinlola roundly and flatly.

But Adeleke won convincingly in Ede local government councils.

By the time we finish at the tribunal, the collusion of Adeleke and some agents of state to perfect and sharpen the rigging machinery of the APC will come to light. The outcome of the election in Ede was not a reflection of Adeleke’s popularity. Our deputy governorship candidate, Chief Adejare Bello, had represented Ede community in the House of Assembly for 12 meritorious years. He selflessly represented Ede-North, his constituency, for 12 years out of which he was Speaker of the legislature for eight years. So, there’s no way Ede people would have refused to vote for him or send him on further governmental errand as he had done in the past.

Insinuations are rife that the long delay in announcing the final results of the election was as a result of underhand scheming by the PDP to manipulate the election result in its favour.

It is laughable that this is coming from the APC. It is in their character to accuse people of what they are planning to do or had planned to do. This is the hallmark of the APC. They would accuse other parties of planning a mischief whereas they are the real ones planning the mischief. They like flying kites. Yes, it is true that the Ekiti election was declared at about 4am. But remember that Ekiti State has about 16 councils. Osun has 30. Declaring results by 6am in 30 councils and declaring results by 4am in 16 councils shows that that of Osun was faster.

There was also an allegation that a bribe offer of N700m was made to INEC officials to influence the result.

This allegation is criminal in nature. It is unknown to the Electoral Act. He who avers must prove. This averment is criminal in nature.

It is inferred in some quarters that your party might have won the election if it presented another candidate.

Iyiola Omisore has a pedigree of political excellence. He presented himself for the party’s primaries and clearly won. Our party’s primaries, unlike that of the APC, was transparent and credible. If he defeated other aspiring party members, do you expect him to surrender his mandate to them? In life generally and in politics particularly, no political party or candidate can pass 100 per cent the image test. Omisore has a great pedigree. I think he’s the only Yoruba man whose mother was a king and his father is a king. For 11 years, his mother was the regent of her town in Ifewara and she performed very well in the saddle. Omisore was a deputy governor of Osun State. He was for eight years a senator and was also the chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriation. He’s a humanist per excellence and a philanthropist of no mean order. All of these put together in a person, such a person cannot be said to have suffered image problem.

But Omisore said in various interviews that the opposition smeared his name with the murder of Bola Ige despite being absolved of the allegation by the law court.

The people of Esa-Oke have always wanted the spirit of our own late Uncle Bola Ige to rest perfectly in his grave rather than for political merchants to use his name for spurious political gains. It has also been established that Omisore and those charged along with him had no business with the murder of Uncle Bola Ige. So, people talking about Bola Ige’s death are doing so for selfish reasons. For the results of popular votes recorded for Omisore, it is clear that he’s rock solid in Osun.

Won’t this electoral setback put your party in disarray?

We are aware of the vicissitudes of life. We are aware of the vagaries of life. We know we are loved by the majority of Osun people. We are sure that the instrumentality of the judicial system will vindicate us in this just and noble cause.

What’s your reaction to the alleged attacks on your people in Ikirun?

The attacks represented one of the darkest moments of the election process. Our member, Sade, who had a kiosk at Monday Market in Ikirun, had her kiosk destroyed. She used to sell drinks. Another member of the PDP, Imam Mojeed, at LAMECO Central Mosque in Ikirun had his house vandalised. Ayeni, a former councillor in Ekeinde community of Ifelodun had his four cars vandalised. The shop of an Igbo trader, who was accused of leading Igbo dancers on the day Omisore came to campaign in Ikirun was destroyed. The transport union’s executive in Ikirun was dissolved and PDP members in the union were removed. Threats were made to PDP members on the telephone while frivolous petitions were sent to the police.