Osun Rerun: My Conditions to Support PDP, APC – Omisore

The candidate of the Social Democratic Party in last Saturday’s election in Osun State, Senator Iyiola Omisore, has said that he will only pledge his support for the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Ademola Adeleke, or the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Gboyga Odetola, in the Thursday’s rerun of the poll if their parties satisfy his conditions.

Speaking during the visit of a PDP presidential aspirant, Senator Bukola Saraki, to his home in Ile-Ife on Monday, Omisore, who dumped the PDP after a disagreement over the party’s primary, said as a stakeholder in the state, he was always after a people-centred government.

Omisore said, “I have given my programmes to both the APC and the PDP. My programme is like this; payment of salaries and pensions. Good governance is what is important to me.

“Anyone between the two that will do that will get my support. I am passionate about Osun State and my interest is the welfare of the people of this state. I have told those sent to me. At the appropriate time, we will tell you where we are going.”

Meanwhile, Saraki, who is also the Senate President, told journalists after his meeting with Omisore that he (Omisore) had agreed in principle to support the PDP in the rerun of the election on Thursday.

He said, “We had a fruitful discussion with Senator Omisore. He used to be with us. And we believe he is helping us now. I am optimistic of a good outing for the PDP. After meeting with him, I am more optimistic now that with his support, the PDP will win. We are confident of a good outing. I am more confident now.

“I was hard on INEC because it declared the Osun poll inconclusive after doing a good job. The issue of vote-buying was on the front burner but that was reduced to the minimum as against what we witnessed during the Ekiti poll. At the end of the day, the poll was again declared inconclusive. That sort of took away all the commendations that should have gone the way of INEC.”

The election was declared inconclusive by the Independent National Electoral Commission on Sunday because, according to the commission, the difference between the votes scored by the two leading parties, the PDP and the All Progressives Congress, was lower than the number of votes cancelled.