A former National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, Senator Iyiola Omisore, has criticised his disqualification from the party’s Osun State governorship primary, describing the decision as “a huge joke” and accusing the screening panel of bias and procedural lapses.
Speaking on behalf of the aspirants after meeting the APC Screening Appeal Panel in Abuja on Saturday, Omisore alleged undue interference by former Governor and Minister of Marine Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, to favour Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji.
Punch reports that the APC Screening Committee had earlier barred Omisore and six other aspirants from contesting the governorship primary scheduled for December 13, citing alleged irregularities in their nomination forms.
The disqualified aspirants included Omisore, Babatunde Oralusi, Oyedotun Babayemi, Dr. Akin Ogunbiyi, Benedict Alabi, Adegoke Rasheed Okiki, and Senator Babajide Omoworare.
According to the committee, the aspirants failed to provide evidence of sponsorship from at least five fully registered and financially up-to-date party members in each Local Government Area of the state, as required by Articles 9.3(i) and 31.2(ii) of the APC Constitution and Paragraph 6(c) of party guidelines.
Only Mulikat Abiola Jimoh and Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji were cleared to contest the primary.
Omisore rejected the grounds for disqualification, saying none of the aspirants had been formally notified of any specific infractions.
He said, “Well, that panel report is the jokiest report of the year. It is quite unfortunate that people have taken partisanship beyond politics.
“We know the panel produced multiple reports, and the one submitted to the secretariat was not the original. As we speak, none of us has been shown the report or told why we were disqualified.”
He also questioned the committee’s claim that some aspirants lacked the required number of nominators, noting that the party leadership had full access to the membership register.
“I am the only one who has met them. But we have the same reservations. So far, so good. All of us will meet the appeal panel individually. But I asked them, ‘What are the allegations, because we haven’t seen any.
“We haven’t been written to. So, what are the bases of the disqualification? You said we didn’t have nominators, five per local government. But the law says, he who alleges must prove. They should have used another method to disqualify us,” Omisore said.
He described the process as raising broader concerns about fairness and transparency within the party’s nomination system.
“But you can know from our pedigree that the disqualification wasn’t the right word to use for us because we are germane in this thing. We are the veterans! You can see for yourself that where you have disqualified people like us in any contest, where do we go from there?” he added.
Omisore expressed confidence that the National Working Committee would review the decision and possibly overturn it, citing what he described as signs of factionalism within the Osun APC.
“As a person, I look forward to good things in my life. The NWC, in their own wisdom, have the list of members of the party, and we have over 13,000 members of the party who are financiers.
“And 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,” he said.
