Omisore
Senator Iyiola Omisore, the National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has urged ambitious members of Nigeria’s political class to understudy Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s styles of politics and his capacity for building networks.
Explaining why the party’s standard bearer, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, won the February 25 presidential election, Senator Omisore said the APC standard bearer triumphed based on some factors.
He said ”Asiwaju was up and doing and he dominated the scenes; the campaigns, from the period preceeding the primaries to the last day of the campaigns. He was the most visible among the presidential candidates. He traversed the nooks and crannies of the country, selling his ideas and plans.
Speaking with reporters at the party secretariat in Abuja, shortly after he received a letter of felicitation from Chinese officials on behalf of the party, the party scribe noted that Tinubu “had the best, most appealing and captivating blue print. He was not alone. He demonstrated to Nigerians that he would foster inclusion. Look at the campaign council. It was representative of all the segments in the party, ethnic groups, and geo-political zones. It was a string team. He won because majority of Nigerians preferred him. They want him to replicate his feats as governor of Lagos State at the federal level. He will not disappoint Nigerians.”
He said the spread of Tinubu‘s votes across the six geo-political zones spoke volumes about his national acceptance and popularity nationwide.
Omisore, a former Osun Deputy Governor, also said the election was free, fair, peaceful, and transparent, dismissing the allegations of malpractices as a russ.
He said it is typical of the losers to cry foul during the periodic election, in a bid to discredit a lawful, legitimate and credible poll.
The party official wondered why the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP), whose candidates are crying foul, have remained subjective in their analyses.
Omisore expressed surprise that they turned their eyes from their strongholds, which they won handsomely, only to focus on the vast areas won by the ruling party.
The national secretary said an election where the president, national chairman of party, director-general of campaign and presidential candidate lost their home states cannot be described as a rigged poll.
He maintained that the poll satisfied the criteria of fairness, transparency and credibility, urging the opposition parties to embrace the reality.
He said maturity demanded that those who lost should accept their fate and congratulate the winner in accordance with the peace accord signed by the political parties and candidates.
Omisore said APC owed its victory to party unity, the team spirit, the support of President Muhammadu Buhari, the resilience of the party leadership, the courage of the candidate, determination of party faithful, and collective wish of the majority of Nigerians.
He said why the APC went into the poll as a united party, LP and PDP were in disarray.
Omisore noted that ”Everybody knew that people were leaving the PDP. Those five governors who did not leave distanced themselves from their presidential candidate. They went into the election in disunity. How can they win. Nigerians have spoken.”
The party secretary said other struggling parties should copy the cordial relations that permeated the ruling party, particularly among the party leaders.
Omisore applauded the commitment of the APC governors to zoning and power shift, stressing that it has further strengthened the bond of unity between the North and the South.
He said the move to discredit the successful and peaceful poll will fail because it is erected on propaganda and falsehood by a gang of losers.
Omisore congratulated Tinubu for displaying the noblest examples of courage, hope and determination to succeed, despite the odds.
He said the PDP candidate miscalculated thinking that he would win because he came from a certain part of the country, he miscalculated.
Omisore also said the poll has also taught Nigeria the big lesson that ethnicity and religion should not determine the outcome of national elections.
He said the results have revealed Tinubu as a unifier and symbol of unity and integration with a mass appeal.
