SDP says it did not deny Omisore presidential ticket

The Social Democratic Party has described as ‘untrue’ some online publications that the party denied Senator Iyiola Omisore the ticket to contest the election to represent Osun East Senatorial District at the Senate in 2019.

The Secretary of the SDP in Osun State, Mr. Taiwo Akeju, said this in an interview with our correspondent in Osogbo on Monday.

Some online media had reported that Omisore, who was the candidate of the SDP in September 22 governorship election in Osun State, was denied the senatorial ticket by the party.

But the SDP secretary told our corespondent that Omisore did not present himself for senatorial election after he came third behind Mr. Gboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress and Senator Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party in the governorship poll whose result is being contested at the tribunal.

Akeju said, “There is no truth in that story that SDP denied Omisore senatorial ticket.

“That is not true. Omisore has not presented himself for senatorial election. He didn’t inform us. If he did, we could have considered him, but he did not.

“Senator Omisore is one of the prominent leaders of the SDP and we have no quarrel with him.

“But the truth is that he did not present himself for senatorial election. If anybody says that, it is a lie.

“He has not presented himself for any election after the governorship election. You know that he was our governorship candidate in the Osun governorship election and he did well.

“He is one of the symbols of the party. We would have considered him if he presented himself, but he did not.

“I think he wants to give other people the opportunity to be elected, he doesn’t have interest in the senatorial election. Maybe he doesn’t want to appear selfish, but he was not denied the ticket. The submission of list has also closed.”

It will be recalled that Omisore was wooed by the APC to support Oyetola in the rerun governorship election held on September 27 after the first ballot was declared inconclusive by the Returning Officer for the poll, Prof. Joseph Fuwape, who is the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology Akure, Ondo State.

He was said to have been offered the Osun East Senatorial ticket of the APC aside other promises to support Oyetola but his name was not on the list of candidates submitted by the APC to the Independent National Electoral Commission.