Two years after the suspenseful June 2022 presidential primary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) that saw ex-Lagos governor Bola Tinubu emerge as the party’s flagbearer, former APC National Secretary Iyiola Omisore has disclosed his role in ensuring a South-Westerner secured the party’s ticket.
Appearing on Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, a socio-political program on Channels Television on Friday, Omisore disclosed how he outmaneuvered then APC National Chairman Abdullahi Adamu, who preferred a northern candidate to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari.
“In politics, everybody has their mindsets, we came from different (geopolitical) zones to the NWC (National Working Committee) that time, representing different interests,” Omisore said.
“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 South-South too, his own mandate was to deliver the South for the Presidency, I want to assume so.
“So, my own was to get to my destination which I have gotten to today. 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 managed to conduct a fair and transparent primary. “We voted, everybody had a choice and it was transparent. And the moment there is a transparent primary, there won’t be noise; it is only when people feel cheated that they go to court,” he added.
Leading up to the APC presidential primary in June 2022, Adamu had announced then Senate President Ahmad Lawan as the party’s “consensus candidate,” but this was strongly opposed by a group of northern governors who preferred Tinubu. Despite the internal conflicts, Tinubu won the primary, defeating prominent contenders such as Lawan, ex-Transport Minister Rotimi Amaechi, and former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. He later triumphed over opposition candidates like Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) in the February 2023 general election.
In July 2023, about two months after Tinubu was inaugurated as Nigeria’s President, both Adamu and Omisore resigned from their positions as APC National Chairman and Secretary, respectively, under controversial circumstances. This led to the formation of a new NWC with former Kano governor Abdullahi Ganduje and ex-Senate spokesman Ajibola Bashiru as National Chairman and National Secretary.
