The pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, on Tuesday, announced the suspension of Senator Iyiola Omisore, for one year. Omisore was the governorship candidate of Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the Osun State Election.
Omisore was alleged to have aligned with the All Progressives Congress to win the run-off election in the Ife South and North Local Government Areas of Osun State. His action was said to have gone against the position of his party, the Social Democratic Party, and the Afenifere.
Omisore’s suspension was part of the decisions taken at the monthly meeting of the Afenifere, held at the residence of its leader, Chief Reuben Fasoranti, in Akure, the Ondo State capital.
In a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting and read by a chieftain of the group, Chief Korede Duyile, the group said Omisore allegedly went against the position of the Afenifere during the last governorship election in Osun State.
The group had earlier decided not to support the All Progressives Congress at the Osun governorship and the forthcoming general elections.
The Afenifere said in the communiqué, “The meeting took a decision to suspend Senator Iyiola Omisore for one year for violating Afenifere’s directive which affected the outcome of the Osun election.”
Meanwhile, the governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party in Osun State, Senator Iyiola Omisore, has said his decision to work for the APC in the rerun governorship election in the state was in consonance with the position of the SDP in the state.
Omisore, who said this in a text message sent to our correspondent to react to the one-year suspension slammed on him by the Afenifere, stated that the Yoruba socio-cultural group did not give him any directive concerning the poll.
He said although he had not been informed of the suspension, he stressed that he acted based on the resolution of the Osun State chapter of the SDP on whose platform he contested.
“I’m yet to be informed, ( of the suspension) if so, Afenifere bypassed principle of fair hearing. I was not given any directives; it might be an oversight on Afenifere’s part or assumptions.”
Recall that the Peoples Democratic Party and APC’s leaders had stormed the residence of Omisore immediately after the first ballot held on September 22 but the APC mounted a serious pressure on Omisore to support the party’s candidate, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola.
The APC National Chairman, Adams Oshiomole; Governors of Oyo, Ogun, Kano and the then Ekiti State governor-elect, Dr Kayode Fayemi, were sent by President Muhammadu to discuss with the former Osun State deputy governor.
