The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has said that the party did not offer Senator Iyiola Omisore any financial inducement to gain his support during the rerun election conducted on Thursday, adding that the former Deputy governor never made any demand.
Oshiomhole also gave reasons why the party disqualified the Minister of Women Affairs, Hajia Aisha Jummai Alhassan from contesting the governorship elections primary in Taraba state, saying the party was not convinced about the loyalty of the minister to the party.
Addressing a news conference in Abuja, the former Edo State governor said the party gave Senator Omisore the opportunity to sponsor candidates to contest elections on the APC platform, stressing however that those saying the APC offered him money was out of place.
He said “I said we had a negotiation and had a deal that has to do with the governance of Osun State. I didn’t go with money and I don’t have money to give to anybody. He didn’t ask and there was no basis for him to ask.
“The word automatic ticket has meaning. Having regards to the provisions of electoral acts which makes primary mandatory, can you at the same time talk of automatic ticket? Even when I spoke to our National Assembly members, it is not that I don’t know that word exists, but I simply didn’t find it useful and never used it.
“We agreed that he will have an opportunity for him to contest for a seat on APC platform. Not just for Senate or House of Representatives, but also for house of assembly. That is why I said we spoke about the immediate which is the Osun election and going forward.”
The APC Chairman said further that “Both the APC and the PDP recognizes that we needed to do business with the other minority parties that participated in the election and it wasn’t difficult to understand who to do business with if you want to influence the outcome of the election.
“Recognizing the fact that SDP was critical to this conversation, we decided to also open negotiation with their leadership and I was impressed by his emphasis. He told us that, yes he has lost, but he believes that he can still win if we have a deal that seeks to address the primary purpose of his participation in the process which is the governance of the state and specific policy issues that were of concern to him.
“We had a robust conversation and reached an agreement which I think is healthy. We didn’t have to negotiate about compensation or about paying money to anyone. The issue was about governance, education and how we can have a working relationship ahead of the general election and in future elections.
“We were able to strike a deal that has to do with the specific issues that affect the welfare and the well being of the people of Osun State. Whereas Saraki failed to strike a deal with the SDP, we secured a deal with them and now APC, working with the SDP had huge influence in those areas and combining our efforts, it was not strange that at the end, we won.
From The Nation where it appeared as Osun election: Our deal with Omisore, by Oshiomhole
