Former National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Iyinola Omisore, has said that the All Progressives Congress (APC) is likely to lose the governorship election of Ekiti State next year.
Omisore made this remark after meeting with the APC Appeal Screening Committee on Saturday, December 6.
Saturday Telegraph reports that Senator Omisore was one of the 7 aspirants disqualified by the APC screening committee for the party’s governorship ticket.
Speaking to journalists after his meeting with the appeal committee, he alleged that the screening committee chairman told him that he was under directives from the Minister of Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, to disqualify them.
Reacting to their disqualification by the screening panel, Omisore said, “Well, that panel report is the jokest report of the year.
“It is quite unfortunate that people have taken partisanship beyond politics. We are aware that the panel members have two, three reports. The one taken to the secretariat wasn’t the original report. As we speak today, none of us has seen their report and why we were disqualified.
“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?
“The party is pointing at failure, and the chairman of the panel told us that Minister Gboyega Oyetola called him to say that they must disqualify all of us because he wants his lackey, his poster boy, Oyebamiji.
The chairman of the panel actually said that? “Yes, he told us that he was under pressure. Unfortunately, we are in it together.
On their meeting with the Appeal Panel, he said, “I am the only one that 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. 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.”
In the report, there was a proviso that the NWC can overrule the screening panel on the disqualification. What will be your next line of action if the NWC fails to overrule the panel on the disqualification of 7 of you?
Asked what his next action would be if the National Working Committee NWC did not overrule the Screening Panel on their disqualification, he responded, “You can’t shave my head for me. Why don’t you say, the NWC will cancel the report of the panel? Why are you pessimistic?
As a person, I look forward to good things in my life. The NWC, in their own wisdom, has 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 .”
With the prevailing situation now, what do you make of the chances of the party at the polls, he said, “Even in your report today, what did you write there?
“You reported that the party is factionalised, and even the Committee wrote it there that the party is likely to lose the election. So what are you talking about?
