A gubernatorial aspirant on the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), in Oyo State, Engineer Aderemi Oseni, has declared that Senator Olufemi Lanlehin was imposed on the other twelve aspirants and other members of the party as its gubernatorial candidate.
Oseni made this revelation while speaking with journalists at the weekend in Ibadan, the state capital.
Lanlehin was announced as gubernatorial candidate of the party by some leaders of the party last week, a decision which has generated a lot of controversy among the camps of the other twelve (12) gubernatorial aspirants and other members of the party.
But, Oseni while speaking on the purported endorsement of Lanlehin by the national secretariat of the party, argued that Lanlehin’s selection was wrong and undemocratic.
Oseni maintained that Lanlehin did not emerge as the party’s governorship candidate through popular choice but through an alleged manipulation by the ADC national secretariat in Abuja.
He said, “Senator Olufemi Lanlehin was imposed on ADC in Oyo state as the governorship candidate. His selection was wrong and undemocratic.
“His candidature was not divine. We only have problem with his nomination, we don’t have problem with Lanlehin as a person.
Oseni emphasized that Oyo state at this particular period needs a person who is divinely ordained to lead the state in the right way, adding that the people of the state should hold the ADC leaders responsible should the party failed at the end of the general elections.
He disclosed further that the emergence of Lanlehin as the ADC governorship candidate completely negated the outcome of the agreement reached by all the 13 governorship aspirants in the party that an election be held among them and that whoever emerges as the winner of the election should become the party’s governorship candidate and as well be supported by other aspirants for the 2019 general elections.
Oseni maintained further that at the said election among the aspirants, Dr Nureni Adeniran emerged winner while himself came second with Senator Lanlehin coming fifth, adding that before the election, all the aspirants signed an undertaking that they will all abide by the outcome of the election.
He stressed that after the election, all the other 12 aspirants including Lanlehin congratulated Adeniran who later proceeded to the Abuja National Secretariat of the party for other processes of perfecting his emergence as the ADC governorship candidate in Oyo state.
The ADC gubernatorial aspirant stressed that he was surprised to see a press release issued by the ADC National Secretariat claiming that Senator Lanlehin emerged as the party’s governorship candidate after a “keenly contested election”.
Oseni also revealed that it was then that he withdrawn his earlier support for Senator Lanlehin’s governorship bid.
Oseni, who insisted that he will not dump ADC for any other political party lamented that it was unfortunate that the party’s national secretariat manipulated Adeniran out of the race by claiming that he did not obtain any nomination form which they themselves know was not true.
