A former Deputy Governor of Osun State, Senator Iyiola Omisore has emerged as the People’s Democratic Party, PDP gubernatorial candidate in the August 9 governorship polls.
Adamu Aliero, the Chairman of the Osun 2014 Gubernatorial Primary Election, declared Omisore the winner after he scored 1,128 votes.
Senator Olasunkanmi Akinlabi scored 45 votes, Mr. Wole Oke scored 5 votes while 18 votes were voided.
The first civilian governor of the state, Mr. Isiaka Adeleke, who showed interest in the election, boycotted the primaries.
Akinlabi, one of the contestants in the Saturday primary, had rejected the outcome of the ward delegate congresses which produced delegates for the primary election.
Omisore, who thanked the delegates for having confidence in him welcomed other contestants on board, saying they all need to work together to dislodge the APC from the state.
He said, “I welcome everybody on board. We must work together. APC has already lost in the state. Nothing is working; no commerce and the schools are in a comatose condition.”
Omisore was elected Deputy Governor of the state to the then Governor, Bisi Akande (current Interim Chairman of the All Progressive’s Congress, APC) from 1999 to 2002.
In 2002, Mr. Omisore was accused of being responsible for the murder of Bola Ige, then Nigeria’s Attorney General and Justice Minister, who was murdered in his Ibadan home on December 23, 2001. Mr. Ige was from Esa-Oke.
Mr. Omisore was detained for almost two years and won his 2003 senatorial election while in prison. He was eventually cleared by the court and freed.