Hammed Shittu in Ilorin

A former Special Adviser on Education to former Governor of Osun State, Alhaji Adegboyega Oyetola, Hon. Jamiu Olawumi, has said that it is a pay back time for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and former Governor Oyetola to reward  Senator Iyiola Omisore with governorship ticket of All Progressives Congress(APC) ahead of the  governorship election in the state come 2026.

Olawumi who is also a chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC) stated that, “Senator Omisore has paid his due to the political emergence of the duo in a different political assignments he finds himself in the country and this is the time to support his bid for the APC ticket in Osun state ahead of 2026 governorship election”.

The APC chieftain made the remarks while speaking with journalists in Ilorin, Kwara state capital on Monday on the sideline of the forthcoming governorship election  in Osun state.

He said that, “Senator Omisore is a leading governorship aspirant of APC in Osun state and had paid his dues to the emergence of President Tinubu and former governor Oyetola in the past elections in the country”.

Olawumi said, “If we now go to the IOU aspect, it was the relationship between Senator Omisore and the President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and  the late former  President Muhammad Buhari that gave Asiwaju Tinubu the  ticket of becoming the president of Nigeria during the 2023 general election”.

He stated, “Senator Omisore  was the National Secretary of the APC and he was in charge of delegate list.

“He (Omisore) was also standing up to the former national chairman then,  Senator Abdullahi Adamu, so that the trick of just nominating somebody will not see the light of the day.

 “So, he worked for the ticket that produced the president, the sitting president now”.

Olawumi added, “And if you recall in 2018, it was Senator Iyiola Omisore that gave us the ticket, the victory against  Senator Ademola Adeleke so that Mr. Gboyega Oyetola will become the governor of Osun State.

“If he had not joined us, former governor Oyetola wouldn’t have been governor. But he weighed the two options. And he saw that Oyetola, a very handsome man, very very gubernatorial, excellent in public  governance. And somebody who has done so well in the private sector as against a dancer.

“He (Omisore) supported the votes we garnered in his  Ife federal constituency that gave us the victory in 2018 governorship election in Osun state”.

Speaking on the capacity of Senator Omisore, the APC chieftain stated that, “One thing is when you want to hunt for buffalo, you need to look for a  wide buffalo, you don’t bring in dogs that are just learning the tricks of hunting. You bring veterans”.

He noted further, “The situation we are finding ourselves in Osun State demands that a veteran who is capable and has capacity  to contest the next governor of Osun State.

“All other contestants, other  aspirants within the party are my friends but I want to say that, none of them will be said to have the capacity of Senator Iyiola Omisore”.

He said, “Don’t forget that in 1999, when Asiwaju Tinubu, the president now, was governor, he was deputy governor of Osun State.

“And he has come a long way. He has remained the issue of Osun politics for 31 years. He started politics here in Osun in 1994. So he  has seen it all. So he has the capacity. He has the connections.

“And there’s no politician in Osun State today can claim IOU, or another politician in Osun and in Nigeria. He has led.

“We have seen it. Others have not led. They have where they have led, not displayed the capacity comparable to that of  Senator Iyiola Omisore.

“We have two deputy governors now, aspiring to be governors. We have His Excellency, Mr. Benedict Alabi and then we have Otunba Iyiola Omisore who was also a former deputy governor of the state.

“Those are two former deputy governors. But you cannot say of all others. Otunba Iyiola Omisore was deputy governor 1999 to 2003.

“Senator Omisore became senator two times. And he was the chairman of  Appropriation Committee of the House of Senate. And the consequences of his being the Senate then, you can get the footprints even across the Southwest part  of Nigeria”.

Olawumi however urged the leaders of the party jn the state to adopt the use of consensus rather than primaries to produce the governorship candidate of APC for next year governorship poll in the state and should pick Senator Omisore so as to bring sanity into the governance of the state.

The post Osun  2026: APC Chieftain Urges Tinubu, Oyetola to Reward Senator Omisore with  Guber Ticket appeared first on THISDAYLIVE.

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