Until his arrival in the Osun state chapter of the SDP, the party recorded almost zero political activities in the Osun state political circle, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) has however, had the situation changed positively having bounced into political reckoning and relevance following the defection of Senator Iyiola Omisore to the party. Omisore is pursuing his political ambition on the platform of the party. But for fate, Senator Iyiola Omisore would have for long emerged the governor of Osun state as he was well- positioned to surface as the 2nd civilian governor of the state were it not for the unfortunate incident of the death of late General Sanni Abacha. Omisore then had the strongest political structures in the UNCP days and he was merely waiting for the swearing -in ceremony until the political equations changed sequel to the abrupt end of the Abacha’s transition programme. Preparatory to the 1999 general elections, Omisore renewed his guber ambition and even though the AD leaders treated those who participated in the Abacha’s transition programme like a pariah , the late Chief Bola Ige had to accommodate Omisore in their fold, allowed him to pay for the party’s registration and also persuaded the senator to accept the deputy governorship position with an assurance that he would take over in 2003. The relationship between Omisore and the AD leaders didn’t however, last long. The Ile-Ife born chief would also have had the governorship ticket placed on his laps in 2003 saved for late Chief S. M Afolabi’s reasoning that a neutral candidate be sought in the person of Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola. The former minister argued that while he also had disagreements with Chief Bola Ige in 1983 as his deputy, a neutral face was sought in the person of Dr Omololu Olunloyo. It was not however without a quid pro quo, Oyinlola was to spend a term and pave the way for the Senator to occupy the seat in 2007. Oyinlola’s decision to seek a second term also pitched him against Omisore and strained their relationship until August 26, 2006 when at a meeting held in Aso Rock and presided over by OBJ , Oyinlola was bestowed with a second term ticket while Omisore was also given a return ticket . The senator later emerged as the PDP guber candidate and contested against Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola in the August 9, 2014 guber poll. The Apesin Oodua, Otunba Iyiola Omisore who is taking a fresh shot at the governorship seat cleared the first hurdle on Wednesday as he has emerged as the SDP guber candidate. Like it was done in Ekiti state, the party once again settled for the Direct Primary option and it was an exercise that kept party leaders waiting for hours at the Atlantic Hotel, Ogo Oluwa area until the team from Ifedayo and Ife South brought the result of the last two local governments. The Senator was eventually declared as winner of the primary by the Returning Officer, Prof. Rufai Al-kali at exactly 10.25 pm. Omisore polled 123,485 votes to defeat his co-contestants Atanda Kehinde who had 1637 votes and Otunba Kolawole Olajide who got 1,802 votes. With the emergence of Omisore as the SDP candidate, it is now a clear battle between him and those who will stand as candidates of the other three main political parties; the PDP, APC and the ADC. Speaking with Global Excellence after the primary, the state SDP Chairman, Dr Bayo Faforiji said it was a good outing for the party. ‘We did promise that the process will be fair and transparent and you have witnessed how it all went, we all made the sacrifice to go through the requirements inspite of being sort of cumbersome , nothing was left undone, in the end, we are happy that our candidate emerged through a credible process and now we are good to go’ he said
Kwara CP Adds A Year
A refined and polished gentleman, he is the Commissioner in charge of the Kwara State Command of the Nigeria Police Force. We learned that the dude, Aminu Pai Saleh do leave good legacies wherever he serves and it is certain that the state of harmony will not be an exception. It is common for top officers in the military or the para-military outfits to restrict interactions with the junior ones or those under their control to things and issues that are strictly official. However such is not the case with the police chief as he ensures that he puts into use his good inter-personal skills, a quality that has made the policing of the state easy for him cognizant that he also enjoys the total support of the rank and file. The Commissioner was a year older on Monday, the 16th of July and men of the command shared the joyful moment with him by making a cake available at his office at the state headquarters and also held a prayer session where God’s guidance and divine support was sought for the super cop