Aregbesola will lose – Omisore’s campaign chief

Why is your campaign christened ‘Rescue Mission?’We started Senator Iyiola Omisore’s political journey 18 years ago. We started writing manifestoes in 2007 but the situation in Osun State now is quite different. The problem we are having today in Osun State is that the resources of the state are not being utilized in the state. […]

Why is your campaign christened ‘Rescue Mission?’
We started Senator Iyiola Omisore’s political journey 18 years ago. We started writing manifestoes in 2007 but the situation in Osun State now is quite different. The problem we are having today in Osun State is that the resources of the state are not being utilized in the state. People who are holding various positions in Osun are not Osun indigenes. So, to us, it’s a problem. It’s an embarrassment of the highest order. When a government wants to award contract, even building of schools, the current administration could not find people in Osun to do that. The government wants to do feeding of pupils in primary schools and all the chicken were supplied by one person. All the clothes that are being worn by primary and secondary schools students were supplied by one person.
What is the reaction of your party to the planned deployment of massive security to the state for this election?
When you are now criticizing the deployment of soldiers, what do you say about ‘state boys’? Aregbesola said immediately he came in to power that he doesn’t want to see any policeman behind him. He had Sheriff Guards, he made uniform and bought vehicles for them. He started using them as official security around him; it took almost six months before he was put to check. We were all witnesses to it. He is parading the ‘state boys’ around now and I want to say that nobody has a monopoly of thuggery.
You remember what happened in this state in 2007. There were problems only in the local government where the then ACN won. They took to the streets and started burning houses. So, please join us in that crusade, we need more official security but the security men should not be partial.
Why is your candidate going about with masked security men?
When we started this campaign, we applied to the Police Commissioner, the Director of SSS, the Civil Defence Corps and other security agencies for security support and we were adequately supplied. So, wherever we go, we are assured that we are properly protected. Now, I am putting it back, if there is any claim about masked men, I advise APC or whoever is making such claims to write a formal letter to the Inspector General of Police and Director of SSS to investigate. Then they will know who the masked man is. As far as we are concerned, we don’t harbor thugs, we don’t believe in terrorism, we don’t have ‘State Boys’ in all our campaigns, there is no record of violence anywhere we go and we thank God for this and it has remained so.
What do you have to say on the allegation that your party is luring voters with rice and kerosene?
The day Aregbesola was going to Ondo State and they were loading kerosene in Osogbo in trailers and taking them to Ondo State as campaign materials for ACN gubernatorial candidate, nobody talked. You see, giving kerosene, rice, MTN cards,  slippers, even vehicles, motorcycles is an international best practice. It’s not inducement, people are hungry in this state.
Aregbesola has brought hunger, if you throw bread outside now, you will take some people to the hospital because of the way they will rush the bread. People are hungry and we cannot be distributing money, it’s against the law but when you go out and discover that people are hungry, won’t you help them? We want them to be alive. We don’t want them to die. So, we are only helping them to keep body and soul together till the day of the election and we are not discriminating whether you are PDP or APC, once you come, whatever we have, we give.
We brought kerosene and as you know, kerosene is not for the rich but for the average citizens. So, just give 5 litres of Kerosene to someone, it may take him or her up to a month because we want them to know the kind of government that we want to run when we get there.