Democratic Party, PDP, in last
year’s governorship election in
Osun State, Iyiola Omisore, has
vowed to retrieve his ‘stolen
mandate’ from the incumbent
through legal means.
Mr. Omisore lost the election to
Rauf Aregbesola of the All
Progressives Congress, a victory
that was confirmed by the Election
Petition Tribunal on Friday.
The former senator said he was
dissatisfied with the ruling and
would proceed to the Appeal Court.
“As earlier mentioned by our
lawyers, we are proceeding to the
Court of Appeal and we have total
faith in the higher court to
dispense justice in the matter,” he
said.
Read his full statement on Sunday
below:
I am constrained to speak again on
the judgement of the Osun State
Election Petition Tribunal again
due to the deliberate mischievous
twist being given my initial
reaction to the tribunal’s
pronouncement and the political
activities preceding and succeeding
it, by the elements of the ruling
party in the state.
Let me expressly state my abiding
faith in the Nigerian judiciary to do
justice at all times without fear or
favour and the pronouncement of
the tribunal though against us, has
not shaken that belief, and would
not, even if there were no higher
courts to review the tribunal’s
judgement.
The preceding political activities of
the ruling party in the state hours
before the judgement which went
in tandem with the party elements’
prediction, necessitated the call on
the National Judicial Council (NJC)
to take another look into the
bewildering scenario which was
now being interpreted by our
opponents as a call for the probe of
the judges.
Going by the laws guiding elections
in the country, two layers of appeal
are still available unto us, which we
are currently exploring.
As earlier mentioned by our
lawyers, we are proceeding to the
Court of Appeal and we have total
faith in the higher court to
dispense justice in the matter.
Despite my disavowal of the said
judgement, I have taken it in good
faith since other avenues of seeking
redress are open and being
explored.
Contrary to the lies being peddled
by elements of the ruling party in
Osun state, I hold the judiciary in
high esteem and trust in its ability
to dispense justice.
Unlike them, our party is not
known for extra-judicial ways of
seeking political redress and it is
not in our character to denigrate
the system when things don’t
go our way like they do.
I call on our supporters to maintain
peace and we sustain our pursuit
for justice. We believe that it shall
not be long before we retrieve our
stolen mandate.
Iyiola Omisore.
