Iyiola Omisore, the former National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has vehemently rejected the party’s decision to disqualify him and several other aspirants from the Osun State governorship primary election.
Speaking during a Tuesday, the 9th of December, 2025, in interview on Arise Television, Omisore described the action as a “joke and embarrassment.”
The former lawmaker challenged the party’s power over the nomination process, stating that there “is a limit to what a party can do in candidate disqualification,” and further asserting that the Electoral Act stipulates that the “nomination of a candidate is not the prerogative of any party.”
The APC Screening Committee had moved to disqualify Omisore and six others from the December 13 primary, citing alleged irregularities within their nomination documents.
Those barred alongside Omisore include Senator Babajide Omoworare, Dr. Akin Ogunbiyi, Oyedotun Babayemi, Babatunde Oralusi, Benedict Alabi, and Adegoke Rasheed Okiki.
Omisore tied the current primary controversy directly back to the APC’s previous electoral failure in the state. He recalled the analysis conducted after the defeat, saying, “In Osun State, we lost election in 2022. After the loss, we did a post mortem how we lost election led by the former Minister of Health, Isaac Adewale.”
He revealed the internal findings, stating: “The report was submitted and pointed at the fact that the then governor Gboyega Oyetola made us to lose election. And the report said that there are three or four of his cabinet members who aided the loss.”
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Allegations of Imposition and Need for Fresh Route
Omisore argued that this history created a “problem for the state all over,” necessitating the need for “a thorough primaries.” He then accused former Governor Oyetola of undermining this process: “Unfortunately, former governor Oyetola is now sponsoring one of those aiders of the election losses.”
He continued, asserting that “the entire state leadership is against his position, and he started to impose the candidate on the state.”
Addressing the national leadership, Omisore carefully stated: “And I want to really explain that I don’t want you to drag President Bola Tinubu to this matter.” He praised the President’s impartiality, noting, “The President is a leader of the country. He has done well for everybody. He has fair to all concerned.”
Concluding his rationale for challenging the disqualification, Omisore emphasized the need for change ahead of the next election: “So in a bit of it as a mixture and confusion about it, we want to win election 2026 so we cannot go the same way, the same route we went to lose election in 2022.”