Osun Governorship Election: SDP will embarrass APC, others without buying votes-Omisore

By Josephine Ella-Ejeh

Osun State Governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Senator Iyiola Omisore has lambasted the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) and the People’s Democratic Party(PDP) for buying the votes of electorate during  the  recent Ekiti governorship election.

Senator Omisore who described the act as a “National embarrassment,” on Monday in Abuja, was responding to questions from journalists after receiving his certificate of return from the SDP at the party secretariat in Maitama.

The former Osun State deputy governor said the SDP would not be associated with such a malaise.

“Sharing money during election to influence vote is a malaise and it is condemned. The issue now is will that be a basis for election wining? Will that be a yardstick for good governance? Will that be the reigns of reality in this country? Will that be the contention of politicians or will that be the reality of the voter too? These are the questions we have to ask ourselves,” he said.

Omisore said  the fact that other politicians  are  doing what he considered evil, does not   compel him to do  the same, adding,  “I don’t  usually like to discuss money sharing during election because it’s an embarrassment to this country especially under democracy.  But I can assure you today that we will not join them in sharing money.

“We won’t stop other party from sharing money but we are going to embarrass them by the quality and number of votes we are going to have,  so that sharing money becomes irrelevant.”

The Osun governorship aspirant said the electorate know the quality, caliber of candidates under SDP that other party candidates are not a match to.

Speaking earlier, the SDP National Secretary, Alhaji Shehu Gabam said the meeting was to present the certificate of return to the winner of the Osun state SDP primaries.

He congratulated  Omisore for winning the party primaries contested keenly in a very open and  transparent primary “that is envious to other parties and of course they have copied our own direct primaries, which have clearly shown that Nigerians are tired of system of delegates that will easily shortage quality and replace mediocrity.”

He said the primaries which was free and fair  is a very serious land mark that has set the stage for transparency of the process of election.

“We have promised Nigerians that we will conduct free and fair election devoid of imposition, recklessness and so on. Coming from a background of where candidates are being imposed, we thought that SDP should have a paradigm shift. “

“I want to draw the assurance of Nigerians that this is the symbol of SDP  of today. Our aim is to create an environment for every Nigerian to have a sense of belonging, a sense of participation and indeed I am proud to say that Osun state stands as a reference point. We are glad that the exercise was free and fair, we are glad that the security agencies have witnessed it,” said the party’s national secretary.

He said the party would continue to ensure fairness and transparency in all the primaries, adding this is major paradigm shift and SDP will continue to be driven by knowledge, experience, and protecting the rights of Nigerians and everybody.

Gabam expressed confidence that going by the result of Osun state, SDP will win the governorship in the state.

While describing Omisore as a renowned hard working politician, he assured him on behalf of the secretariat that the party will give him all the support that he needs.

“We will mobilize all Nigerians to ensure that everything that a candidate need you will have it. We also want you to be very open to the party. Whatever the issue we have you to connect us back to it so we can deal with it,” he said.

On his part, the National Chairman of the SDP, Chief Olu Falae  said from Omisore’s antecedent, experience and pedigree, the party considers he is the right candidate for the job.

“The people of Osun state desire this person or the knowledge to turn the place around because the government in place has failed the people.

“Salaries have not been paid, no infrastructure, poverty and so many things and I feel you are not just there as governor, you are there to put smiles on the faces of the people and touch people’s lives and that is what the party represent and that is the vision and focus of the party,” Falae who was represented by Deputy National Chairman, Dr. Abdul Ahmed Isiaq said.