The Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere has suspended Senator Iyiola Omisore for a period of one year. Omisore who was the candidate of the Social Democratic Party, SDP in the last governorship election in Osun State was suspended for aligning with the All Progressives Congress, APC to determine the outcome of the runoff election in Ife South and North Local Government Areas of the state.
The decision was taken at the monthly meeting of the Afenifere which took place at the residence of its leader, Reuben Fasoranti in Akure. In a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting, which was read by a chieftain of the group, Korede Duyile, Afenifere said Omisore went against the position of the group during the last governorship election in Osun State. The group had earlier decided not to support the APC at the Osun governorship and the forthcoming general elections.
In reaction, Omisore who claimed he had not been officially informed about the suspension said his decision to work for the APC in the governorship election was in consonance with the position of the SDP in the state on whose platform he contested.
Omisore said, “Osun SDP passed a resolution to coalesce with the APC. Osun SDP is not affiliated to Afenifere. So, I acted in consonance with the position and will of Osun SDP.
Afenifere bypassed the principle of fair hearing. I was not given any directives; it might be an oversight on Afenifere’s part or assumptions.”
Concerning the controversial issue surrounding the academic qualification of President Muhammadu Buhari, the Afenifere asked the President to produce his academic qualification to the Independent National Electoral Commission, saying failure to do so would show that he is not a man of integrity.
The group said, “While the military has yet to make any other statement than the 2015 statement that it does not have the certificate of the President, his spokesman, Femi Adesina, issued a statement that the body had lost the records and Garba Shehu made another statement that the Presidency had the academic records of the President.
“The narrow but fundamental issue at stake in all of this is that the President stands guilty of perjury (lying on oath) by swearing that he possesses a document that has no veracity with the military or any examinations body.
“The onus on Mr. President is to produce the document he has claimed through the examination body ( the West African Examination Council) so as to retain his claim to being a man of integrity and being eligible to contest the 2019 elections.” The group also frowned at the recent killings of the protesting members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, also known as the Shiites, in Abuja, by the men of the Nigeria Army and the police, asking the Federal Government to release the leader of the Shiites group, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, who is currently in incarceration.
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