[EXCLUSIVE] Osun 2026: Omisore didn’t boycott, he wasn’t invited to ‘barred APC aspirants’ meeting with Tinubu
A former National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and one of the governorship hopefuls in Osun, Iyiola Omisore was not invited to a reconciliation meeting with President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday in Aso Villa, NewsClick Nigeria can authoritatively report.
Recall that NewsClick Nigeria had earlier exclusively reported on the meeting at the instance of the president to quell divisions arising from fallouts from the screening committee’s report which barred seven of the candidates from contesting.
NewsClick Nigeria reports that only Omisore did not attend the meeting. However, NewsClick Nigeria gathered that contrary to claims of boycott in protest of Bola Oyebamiji’s emergence as the party’s consensus candidate, the former deputy governor did not get an invite to the meeting of the aspirants with the president.
Insider sources close to the aspirants told this medium that though it was likely for him (Omisore) to decline the invitation, but he was never invited.
‘Omisore was not invited to the APC aspirants parley with the president. He could have declined the invite by his nature but notwithstanding, he should have been invited,’ the source said.
Omisore makes u-turn, backs Oyebamiji
Meanwhile, the former deputy governor has now declared support for Oyebamiji as the party’s consensus candidate for the 2026 Osun State governorship election after his initial resistance.
He had earlier described his disqualification as “the biggest joke of the year,” citing procedural flaws and political interference within the party.
In an interview with ARISE News on Tuesday, Omisore explained that he had approached the APC appeal committee following the party’s guidelines, but the committee had yet to submit its report.
“I met with the appeal committee because the party guideline, section 21 of section 4, says any such action has to be reviewed, which I did. The appeal committee sat for two days and up to today, they have not submitted their report because there was confusion among them.
“The basis of the qualification was not established, and the appeal committee believed that it was wrongly done, poorly done and poorly executed. That is why the appeal committee could not even submit the report up to now,” Omisore said.
He criticised the disqualification process as baseless, pointing to his compliance with party procedures.
“The basis for the disqualification was unfounded because we obtained forms for 1,700 nominators and paid for them. If you are not a member of the party, they won’t sell you a form to be a delegate. We just took 155 out of it.
“So going by that analysis, it’s just a funny thing and an embarrassment to the public. It embarrasses everybody. By my own pedigree, I’m a man of systems and methods.
“When our leader, President Tinubu, won the election, he ensured all compliance was done. When I do that for more than the president, vice president, about 36 governors and many legislators, I imagine that coming this far, it’s not only an embarrassment to me, but an embarrassment to the party. So that’s it.”
However, in another interview with TVC News on Wednesday, Omisore said the party must follow the direction of its leader, adding that he supported the consensus arrangement.
He stressed that he has no regrets about his past political decisions and described himself as “an old wine that tastes better,” noting that he has organic supporters behind him.
He added that although he advised the party leadership on alternative approaches, he is committed to working with the President’s decision.
Omisore said he would formally brief his supporters on the new development and emphasised the need for the APC to overhaul its strategy ahead of the 2026 Osun governorship election.
