Top APC Politician Who Helped Tinubu To Win Opens Up On The Political Game Plan He Played

A former National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Iyiola Omisore, recounted his pivotal role in helping Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to emerge as the party’s presidential candidate in the June 2022 primary.

He highlighted the diverse agendas brought by different regions and individuals to the APC primary and emphasized his mission as the highest-ranking official from the Southwest at the time to ensure a Southwest candidate clinched the party’s ticket.

Omisore, speaking on Friday as a guest on a Channels Television programme, Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, revealed his strategic efforts to outmaneuver others and ensure Tinubu’s emergence as the APC flagbearer.

“In politics, everybody has their mindsets, we came from different (geopolitical) zones to the NWC (National Working Committee) that time, representing differing different interests,” he explained.

“I was the most senior member of the party in the South-West and my mandate was to deliver South-West for Presidency… So, my own was to get to my destination which I have gotten to today. The way and manner I did my journey is between me and God.”

Reflecting on the primary election, Omisore affirmed the democratic process, noting that despite the backing of a different aspirant by then APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, transparency prevailed.

“At the convention, democracy took place and democracy was respected… And the moment there is a transparent primary, there won’t be no noise; it is only when people feel cheated that they go to court,” he added.

Omisore characterized the events leading to the APC presidential primary as “all political” and emphasized the party’s commitment to consolidating democratic gains for Nigeria’s benefit.

In the buildup to the primary, Adamu controversially announced then Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, as the party’s “consensus candidate,” a move rejected by a league of northern Governors who favored Tinubu. Despite the initial controversy, Tinubu emerged victorious in the primary and subsequently won the 2023 presidential election.