- Accuses screening panel of hatchet job
- Slams Minister’s manipulative methods
BY SEGUN ADEBAYO – Six of the seven governorship aspirants disqualified from contesting for the All Progressives Congress (APC) ticket in Osun State have rejected the Screening Panel’s verdict, describing it as a politically-motivated hatchet job that threatens the party’s electoral chances come 2026
The aggrieved aspirants, led by former National Secretary of the party and one-time Deputy Governor of Osun State, Senator Iyiola Omisore, also dismissed the Panel’s submission as “the jokest report of the year,”
Aside from Omisore, the other dissatisfied aspirants are Benedict Olugboyega Alabi, Akin Ogunbiyi, Kunle Adegoke (SAN), Babatunde Haketer Oralusi, and Senator Babajide Omoworare
However, conspicuously missing from the complainants’ roll call is Omooba Dotun Babayemi.
Speaking for the disqualified aspirants, Omisore alleged that the panel submitted multiple contradictory documents, adding that the version taken to the Party Secretariat was not the authentic report.
He said: “We are aware that the panel members have two, three reports. The one taken to the secretariat wasn’t the original report. As we speak today, none of us has seen their report or why we were disqualified.”
Also insisting that their political pedigree made the decision laughable, the former Deputy Governor said, “You can see for yourself that when you disqualify people like us in any contest, where do we go from there? The party is pointing at failure”.
Calling out the Screening Committee Chairman, Omisore claimed he admitted that the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy and former Osun State governor, Adegboyega Oyetola, ordered that all the aspirants be disqualified to pave the way for his preferred candidate, Wale Oyebamiji.
Not backing down in his accusations, the former APC National Secretary said, “He (Panel Chairman) told us that Minister Gboyega Oyetola called him that they must disqualify all of us because he wants his lackey, his poster boy, Oyebamiji.”
Pressed further to confirm panel chairman actually made such a confession, Omisore boldly declared: “Yes, he told us that he was under pressure. Unfortunately, we are in it together.”
As the first among the seven disqualified aspirants to meet with the Appeal Panel in Abuja on Saturday, Omisore said he sought clarification on specific reasons for the action taken against them.
According to him, the Screening Panel’s claim that they failed to secure the required five nominators per local government was totally baseless, saying, “The law says he who alleges must prove. They should have used another method to disqualify us.”
While rejecting any possibility of the NWC upholding the disqualification verdict, Omisore said, “You can’t shave my head for me. Why don’t you say the NWC will cancel the report of the panel? Why are you pessimistic?
“The NWC in their own wisdom have the list of our party members, and we have over 13,000 members who are financiers. All of us aspirants are guilty of the same thing, the same system, the same way. That’s the issue, and it calls for caution”.
On APC’s chances in the forthcoming governorship election given the current crisis of confidence with the party, Omisore said the Party should tread carefully as not to destroy its electoral goodwill in the State.
Also pointing to media reports about the crisis rocking the APC, he said; “You reported that the party is factionalized. Even the committee wrote there that the party is likely to lose the election. So what are you talking about?”
Reports that made headlines had indicated that only two of the nine aspirants who appeared before the Screening Committee were cleared for the primary election.
However, the exercise saw the seven other aspirants, including Omisore, disqualified from participating in the primary election.
