BEVERLY HILLS, March 01, (THEWILL) – Are you a good scriptwriter? If yes, you may be interested in knitting a story around the political life of Senator Dr. Iyiola Omisore, and you can be assured it will make a box office success when the script is fully adapted with a high profile cast.
If you ask Omisore, who I will easy call a political harlot, what his biggest ambition is, I am sure he would confirm that it is governing Osun State. A dream he has failed to actualise multiple times since the advent of this republic.
Over the years, his perpetual failure at clinching the number one job in the state has remained a conundrum to many observers of the political development in the state, particularly, as he is regarded as a political heavy weight. But with his series of political losses, many doubt if he is a real gladiator or a mere paper tiger.
Omisore has switched political parties multiple times in his desperate and frantic bid to govern Osun. From Alliance for Democracy (AD) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and now All Progressives Congress (APC).
In the 2018 governorship election where he contested under the SDP, he came third in the race with 128,049 votes. The former Osun East Senator became the political beautiful bride as the election between now incumbent, Gboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress, APC, and Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, headed into a re-run in some areas.
After series of meetings and offer from the PDP leadership and the ruling APC for his support at the rerun election, Omisore, who was facing several charges by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC, took the offer from the APC as he was allegedly promised a soft landing in his case with the anti-graft agency. The supposed offer was that; his seized travel passport would be released, his case with the anti-graft agency dismissed and his frozen bank account unfrozen.
In the long run, he pitched his tent with Oyetola and the APC won by a narrow margin.
Some sources have said part of the deal with Oyetola was that when Oyetola finishes serving his second term as governor, he would support Omisore to succeed him. It however appears the former Osun Deputy Governor is on the verge of being disappointed as a top force in the state’s APC; former governor Rauf Aregebesola, the Minister for Interior, said the party will never be ‘hijacked by murderers’.
I recall that the only dent on Omisore’s reputation is his alleged involvement in the cold-blooded murder of former Justice Minister and Attorney-General, Chief Bola Ige, an allegation Omisore has debunked severally.
With the recent political play in Osun State, most especially with the faceoff between Governor Oyetola and Aregbesola, it seems Omisore’s defection to the APC would further deepen the political crisis in the state and could potentially hurt his governorship ambition.
One politician told me this: “Dr. Omisore is a political harlot. That’s why you will see him change parties quite often. Let me tell you for free, he would soon dump the APC when he realises that the party can’t offer him what he wants. He failed to understand that; the party also has other qualified people waiting to contest. Coming from SDP won’t guarantee him an automatic ticket.
“He is just building a house on a flood path; the house will collapse with time. His defection to the APC will officially retire him from politics. His defection shows he is desperate for power and the People of Osun do not play to the gallery. It’s best for him to sit and watch from the sidelines. If he contests again, he will lose. This time his loss will bring him shame. He lost his credibility ever since the demise of our respected leader Bola Ige. No image laundry or PR can clean his dented image. All we can say is that he is a serial loser that can’t be trusted with power or the states treasury.”
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