From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Former deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, Lasun Yussuff, has alleged that his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), did not win the 2018 Osun State governorship election where the incumbent, Governor Adegboyega Oyetola, was declared elected.
Speaking to newsmen after purchasing his expression of interest and nomination form at the national secretariat in Abuja, he boasted that nobody born of woman can repeat what they did to him during the 2018 APC primary.
He alleged that Senator Ovie Omo-Agege was compensated with his current position as deputy senate position because of the role he played in rigging him out.
According to Yusuff: “Yes, it was stated in the party constitution that a party can go for direct, indirect or consensus but what was popular was indirect primary with list of delegates picking the candidate. The confusion surrounding the mode of primary in the APC started in Osun with the soul aim to rig Lasun out of the governorship election.
“The former governor of Zamfara State was the chairman of that committee but Senator Yari was not in Osun on the day of the primary. I challenge anyone to go and find out. Let me give you a glimpse of what happened. He (Yari) knew I was popular and when he was instructed to go and do a particular thing, he told them he discovered after investigation that I was popular and the task they were giving him might be difficult.
“The job was undertaken by the current distinguished Senator, the Deputy Senate President, and (he) became the chairman overnight. If he likes, let him controvert this that one of the reasons he is the deputy Senate president was that he was compensated with that job. Omo-Agege was in my hometown for four hours on the day of that primary and he actually conducted three out of the six wards on the day of that election. If I had decided to go to court, what happened in Zamfara would have happened in Osun.
“I had warned them on Thursday of the primary that if they rig me out, APC will not win the governorship election. They thought I was just blabbing but we are all witnessed to what happened when the election was eventually held, did they win? They didn’t. There was no way they can win. All that happened will be story for another day.”
In a swift reaction, Omo-Agege, said he would not join issues with Yussuff, over his claim that he was rewarded with the exalted position for masterminding the rigging against him during the party primary.
“The former deputy speaker is entitled to his opinion on what transpired. The Office of the Deputy Senate President will not join issues with him,” he said through his media aide, Yomi Odunuga.
Yusuff equally enumerated the roles he played in mediating in the crisis raging between the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and Governor Oyetola, stressing that he was in the race to remedy the collapsing infrastructure in the State of Osun.
I want to run for the governorship election in 2022 and nobody born of woman can do what they did to me in 2018 again. And I know that I am going to be governor in 2022 and as I said in my closing remarks that nobody born of woman can stop me.
“It is not by violence, don’t misunderstood me. I don’t have thugs, don’t do violence, I have police escorts but I don’t carry them. But, whoever tries to repeat what happened in 2018, has his generations to blame for it,” he said.
Asked what Governor Adegboyega did not do well that he was aspiring to correct, he said: “I would rather not criticise the governor but say my own. Where I did my school certificate 42 years ago, the school is no longer presenting candidates for WAEC or NECO. I know this as a grassroots man and that is what I am going to change.
“I am a farmer, and a big time farmer at that..I am going to change the system of farming in Osun State. I will also change how the health system is run and finally, as a developmental economist, nobody can develop your area more than when you apply your expertise. I will create an economy for Osun and I know that I can do that,” he said.