The candidate of Peoples’ Democratic Party in last Saturday’s governorship election in Osun state, Senator Iyiola Omisore even though he lost, the battle between him and the winner has just began.
“I salute the good people of Osun who gave us that massive support as reflected in the official results. I stand tall to assure them that their efforts will not be in vain as I have resolved to continue to provide leadership until Osun state of our dream is realized”, the PDP candidate stated.
Omisore, in his post-election statement saluted the massive support his party enjoyed from the citizens, saying that his involvement in the race was informed by alleged poverty and excruciating deprivation among the populace.
His words “this is one election that has been hardly fought in every nook and cranny of our state in the last few months .We traversed the length and breadth of Osun with our 8-point agenda to give a new paradigm for governance and lift our people out of the abyss of want and decadence”.
He added, “in the course of our campaigns, I saw a people traumatized and fervently hopeful of beneficial change. It did not escape my notice that many of the everyday people in our towns and villages who trooped to campaign grounds bore scars of neglect, extreme poverty and excruciating suffering”.
He continued “we came into this race to make that difference in their lives and offer hope in the land. It was not a race we came into unmindful of some of the odds stacked against us. For instance, we had a situation where a clearly partisan Resident Electoral Commissioner had opened the entire electoral system to our opponent from registration stage through data storage to personnel loading”.
Omisore pointed out that though the leadership of Independent National Electoral Commission eventually took the REC, Mr Rufus Akeju out of the shortly before the election, he noted that the man had already done a lot of harm in the system.
Omisore said despite the fact that all democratic structures in the state are in the hands of his opponent, Governor Rauf Aregbesola, he still fought gallantly in every poling unit in the state to achieve the result PDP got in the election.
He noted that despite the outcome of the poll, Osun people would not accept anything short of good governance and would no longer be taken for granted, saying that he has opened the floodgate of democratic challenge which no force on earth can stop.
“I shall be at the forefront as our people keep pressing for the real dividends of democracy and the expansion of the democratic space in our dear state”, he said.
He said his party is presently analysing the results of the elections with field reports and that the party would soon disclosed its findings and the appropriate steps necessary accordingly.
The PDP candidate however appealed to his supporters to remain calm, law-abiding and peace loving. He said his guiding principle is that Osun must not be governed in the old ways anymore and that the August 9 election has given the demography of the change seeking people.
He said “I am a democrat to the core and the whole essence of our involvement in politics is out of the love for our people and a personal commitment to the peace, progress and development of our fatherland.”
Omisore said the governorship election was just an event in the process of the quest for a new Osun state where people would live a happy life of fulfilment.
He urged his supporters to keep hope alive and promised to stand shoulder -to-shoulder to continue the struggle in the overall objective of raising the bar of leadership in Osun state.
Join Daily Trust WhatsApp Community For Quick Access To News and Happenings Around You.
