Otunba Iyiola Omisore has said that the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress when he was the National Secretary, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, wanted a Northerner to succeed former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Hee said this on a Channels Television programme: “Inside Sources,” hosted by Laolu Akande, which aired on Friday.
Omisore, who spoke for the first time after the June 2022 presidential primaries of the APC, said he was happy he achieved his aim of producing a Southern president.
The mathematician and former Osun State Deputy Governor said: “In politics, everybody has their mindsets.
“We came from different (geopolitical) zones to the NWC (National Working Committee) that time, representing differing different interests.
“I was the most senior member of the party in the South West and my mandate was to deliver South West for presidency.
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“Somebody from South South too, his own mandate was to deliver South South for presidency, I want to assume so.
“So, my own was to get to my destination, which I have gotten to today.
“The way and manner I did my journey is between me and God.
“I can’t castigate anybody who tried to be smart, but if you want to be smart and I outsmarted you, to God be the glory.
“But the point is that my mission was to deliver the South West for presidency, which we have today.”
Omisore said though Adamu backed a different aspirant, the NWC was able to present a convention “where democracy took place and democracy was respected.
“We voted, everybody had a choice and it was transparent.
“And the moment there is a transparent primary, there won’t be no noise.
“It is only when people feel cheated that they go to court.”
The former APC National Secretary said everything that happened in the build up to the APC presidential primary was “all political”.
“Whatever we did then was for that time,” Omisore said, adding that the party had moved on to consolidating on democratic gains for the benefit of Nigerians.
In the buildup to the APC presidential primary in June 2022, Adamu announced the then Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, as the party’s “consensus candidate” but this was strongly rejected by a league of northern governors who preferred Tinubu.
Despite the dramatic twists and intra-party squabbles, Tinubu won the primary, trouncing strong contenders like Lawan; ex-Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi; and former Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo (SAN).
The former Lagos State governor would later defeat opposition figures like Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party and Peter Obi of the Labour Party in the February 2023 general election to clinch the number one spot at Aso Villa.
About two months after Tinubu was inaugurated as Nigeria’s president, specifically in July 2023, Adamu and Omisore resigned as APC National Chairman and Secretary respectively in controversial and unclear circumstances, paving the way for a new NWC with ex-Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, and former Senate spokesman, Ajibola Bashiru, as National Chairman and National Secretary respectively.
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