Presidential aspirant on the platform of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) and former Vice-President of the federal republic of Nigeria, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has called on Senator Iyiola Omisore, candidate of Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the Osun governorship poll, to work with Mr. Ademola Adeleke, candidate of the planned PDP in the rerun election.
Adeleke, of the PDP, had polled 254,699 ahead of Mr. Isiaka Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who had 254,345 votes. Omisore on the other hand polled 128,049 to come third on the log. As a former staunch PDP member and the party that stood by him in his political time of crisis, Atiku believed that votes from Omisore’s supporters will do the magic for the PDP during the rerun.
To the surprise of Nigerians and members of the international community, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared the Osun State poll inconclusive because the number of cancelled votes, 3,498, exceeded the difference between the two leading parties. The margin is 353 votes.
The commission fixed Thursday September 27, 2018 for a rerun. But in a tweet on Monday, the former vice president expressed confidence that the PDP would still win in Osun “no matter the ulterior motive of the APC.” The former vice-president said the SDP candidate should remember that the PDP believed in him and gave him its ticket when he contested the governorship election in 2014 adding, “I am confident PDP will win in Osun, no matter the ulterior motive of APC. I call on senator Omisore to remember the PDP, which believed in him and gave him its ticket in 2014,” Abubakar tweeted.