By Adeolu Adekunle
Former National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, Senator Iyiola Omisore, made some assertions on Channels TV. I attempt as a freelance journalist to fact check some his claims and below are my findings:
Omisore- Governor Adeleke is begging to join APC
Fact: Confidential reports and snippets from the Presidency indicated that Yoruba agenda is behind the push to force the Governor to defect. The Presidency indeed extended an invitation to Governor Adeleke. So this claim is FALSE.
Omisore: Governor Adeleke is a political orphan. He has nowhere to go.
Fact: The Governor is on good terms with all the factions in PDP. He is also being courted by the ADC. His options are many. But he appears to be bowing to the invitation from the Presidency on the strength of Yoruba agenda. So the second of the former senator is FALSE.
Omisore- Governor Adeleke failed as a Governor
Fact: Several reports from federal bodies and parastatals as well as public review and rating confirm that Governor Adeleke has delivered on good governance across all sectors within the short stay in office. The confirmation of good performance emanates from even APC members and several non-partisan residents. The accusation of non-performance against the Governor is clearly FALSE.
Omisore: Osun PDP is weak and can be easily defeated by the APC.
Fact: Osun PDP presently produces all the three senators, nine House of Representatives, 24 out of 25 House of Assembly and the government of Osun state. Such a party cannot be described as weak. Checks showed that Osun APC is truly weak and unpopular. This claim of the Senator is therefore FALSE.
Omisore- Adeleke should go and test his popularity in another party instead of APC
Fact: All the reports and insider details show that the majority of the Adelekes and their supporters prefer to remain in PDP. Our fact check revealed that the push for defection is not their will. The pressure emanated from the need to support a Yoruba man for reelection as president.
Omisore- If election is held today in Osun, APC will win
Fact: This statement is unsupported by facts on ground across Osun state. Osun APC is highly loathed by Osun people due to several factors. If an election is conducted today, APC may come a distant third after PDP and ADC. The senators’ claim in this respect is FALSE.
Omisore – Adeleke family is diverting Osun state resources.
Fact: The claim is found to be libelous and seditious. There is no fact to support the claim of diversion of funds as evidence abound of several capital projects, payments of half salary, payment of pension debt and several other state programmes. The claim from the Senator has no grounding in facts and appears to be like a mere political talk. The Senator’s claim is FALSE.
Omisore- Adeleke family don’t keep to political agreements.
Fact: Osun political history with respect to the Adeleke family proved the statement of Mr Omisore wrong. What caused disagreement between the senator and the Adeleke family in 2014 was the refusal of Senator Omisore to apologize for previous ill-treatment of the Adelekes. The overconfidence of the Omisore camp led to his refusal to mend fences with the Adelekes. The Adelekes then pulled out of the PDP to join the APC. As for the alleged sour deal with Ogunbiyi, evidence showed that there were no agreements as Mr Ogunbiyi made outrageous demands which led to the parting of ways between the two parties. Reports indicated that Ogunbiyi loyalists later engaged in anti-party activities. As for Mr Rauf Aregbesola, insider reports indicated the agreement between the two groups was observed until disagreements on national politics. Up till now, nominees of Aregbesola into Adeleke’s government are still in office. So the Adelekes did not breach any agreement with Mr Aregbesola.
So the claim of a serial non-observance of agreement against the Adelekes is FALSE.
Omisore- Adelekes must reach us if he wants to join the APC
Fact: Our review is that if the Adelekes have not reached out to APC leaders in Osun, it confirmed that the governor is really not behind the push for defection. It shows that the defection is engineered by forces bigger than both Osun APC and PDP. Fact checked is that both parties are not in the driver seat on the issue of realignment due to the overriding question of Yoruba agenda.
Omisore- I am not scared of Adeleke coming to APC
Fact: Verifiable report showed that the Senator is really not happy with the Adelekes coming to APC because such will overshadow and cripple his political life. The Senator appears to be unhappy with the drive to strengthen the President’s Yoruba base using the Adeleke government. From the interview, he disagreed with the widely held view that only the Adelekes can safely deliver Osun state for the APC. So the claim of the Senator is FALSE.
Omisore-Adeleke cannot win second term as Governor
Fact: Several survey results in recent months proved otherwise. Osun people appear disposed to an Adeleke second term. The various strata of the society seems to have endorsed him for a second term due to his reported deliveries across all the sectors. Our fact check showed that whichever party platform Governor Adeleke is using to run for governorship, workers, pensioners, artisans and the voting public are likely to back him. The public see the 2026 election as a race among individuals, not political parties. The Senator’s claim is, therefore, FALSE.
● Adeolu Adekunle is a freelance reporter with Osun Spring Newspaper.
