How I Singlehandedly Made Tinubu APC's Presidential Candidate - Omisore Spills

• Iyiola Omisore, former APC National Secretary, revealed his strategic role in ensuring Bola Tinubu's emergence as the party's presidential flagbearer in 2022
• Omisore highlighted his mandate to secure the South-West's representation and described the transparent democratic process that led to Tinubu's victory
• He also emphasised that the party has moved on to consolidate democratic gains, despite the controversies and leadership changes that followed Tinubu's election

Two years after the intense June 2022 presidential primary of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), which saw former Lagos governor Bola Tinubu emerge as the party’s flagbearer, Iyiola Omisore, the party’s National Secretary at the time, has shed light on his role in the process.

Omisore discussed these revelations during his appearance on the socio-political program "Inside Sources with Laolu Akande" on Channels Television on Friday.

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Omisore, a mathematician and former deputy governor of Osun State, disclosed that his mission was to secure the APC presidential ticket for a South-Westerner, amidst internal party dynamics favoring different geopolitical zones.

He confirmed that the then APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, had preferred a northern candidate to retain the presidency after the eight-year tenure of President Muhammadu Buhari, who hails from the North-West. However, Omisore was resolute in his mandate to deliver the South-West for the presidency.

“In politics, everybody has their mindsets, we came from different (geopolitical) zones to the NWC (National Working Committee) that time, representing different interests,” Omisore stated.

“I was the most senior member of the party in the South-West and my mandate was to deliver the South-West for the presidency. Somebody from the South-South too, his own mandate was to deliver the South for the presidency, I want to assume so."

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Omisore emphasised that his strategic maneuvers were pivotal in achieving this goal.

He noted:

“The way and manner I did my journey is between me and God. I can’t castigate anybody who tried to be smart but if you want to be smart and I outsmarted you, to God be the glory. But the point is that my mission was to deliver the South-West for the presidency which we are today.”

Despite Adamu's backing of a different aspirant, Omisore highlighted that the NWC ensured a democratic and transparent convention.

He said:

“We voted, everybody had a choice, and it was transparent. The moment there is a transparent primary, there won’t be any noise; it is only when people feel cheated that they go to court."

The former APC National Secretary described the events leading up to the APC presidential primary as purely political and emphasized that the party has since moved on to focus on consolidating democratic gains for the benefit of Nigerians.

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He remarked, “Whatever we did then was for that time,” underscoring that the party is now committed to advancing democracy.

Former APC chairman Adamu's power plays

In the lead-up to the APC presidential primary in June 2022, Adamu controversially announced then Senate President Ahmad Lawan as the party’s “consensus candidate,” a move strongly opposed by a coalition of northern governors who favored Tinubu.

Despite the dramatic twists and intra-party squabbles, Tinubu won the primary, defeating prominent contenders like Lawan, former Transport Minister Rotimi Amaechi, and former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

Tinubu later triumphed over opposition figures Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) in the February 2023 general election, securing the presidency.

In July 2023, about two months after Tinubu’s inauguration, both Adamu and Omisore resigned from their positions as APC National Chairman and Secretary, respectively, under controversial circumstances.

This paved the way for a new NWC, with former Kano governor Abdullahi Ganduje and former Senate spokesman Ajibola Bashiru assuming the roles of National Chairman and National Secretary, respectively.

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ASUU urges FG to convert student loan to grant

In another development, Legit.ng reported that ASUU reacted to the 50 billion naira budgeted for the student loan scheme by the President Tinubu-led federal government.

ASUU president, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, urged the federal government to convert the loan into grants for students.

Source: Legit.ng