Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives in the 8th National Assembly, Honourable Lasun Yusuf, on Thursday, picked the All Progressives Congress Expression of Interest and Nomination forms ahead of the party primary.
Addressing newsmen at the party national secretariat in Abuja shortly after picking the forms, Honourable Yusuf alleged that he was shortchanged in the primary that produced the incumbent governor, Gboyega Oyetola in July 2018.
He expressed confidence that he would pick the party ticket and ultimately, win the July 16 election in the South West state.
He said: “Let me remind Nigerians today that surrounding whether direct or indirect primaries in All Progressives Congress, the confusion started in Osun State in 2018 with the sole aim to rig Lasun Yussuff out of the governorship primary election. But because of the kind of person I am, I knew this and people called me all over the country that I should not take part in that primary election.
“Let me tell you all these, the former governor of Zamfara State Abdulaziz Yari, was the chairman of that primary election committee. On the day of the primary, Yari did not come to Osun. That’s left for you Journalists to find out why he did not come but let me give you a glimpse, the man knew I was popular but he was instructed to go and do a particular thing but he told them that he conducted his investigation and discovered that the Deputy Speaker too was popular. That’s why Yari did not come to Osun during APC primary election in 2018.
“The job was undertaken by the current distinguished Senator, His Excellency Deputy Senate President, Omo Agege. He became the Chairman of the Committee over the night, and I want to say if he likes he can controvert this that one of the reasons Omo-Agege is the Deputy Senate President today was that he was compensated for that job.
“Omo-Agege was in my hometown for four hours on the day of that primary election, he actually conducted three wards primary out of six wards of my hometown and he signed three results in my hometown on the day of the said primary.
“So if I had wanted to go to court what happened in Zamfara would have happened in Osun state but I never went to school because I wanted to start writing petitions to court, my life has always been if you think you have the power to cheat me, go ahead and cheat me but sometimes someday we will meet again, and that’s why I never allowed Osun to go the way of Zamfara state, but when they met us at the party secretariat I warned them, I said if you rig me out of this election I can assure you that you are not going to win the governorship election. They thought I was a small boy and that I was just blabbing or just a mere threat but my friends, you are a witness to what happened when the election was eventually held, did they win? They didn’t because there was no way they could have won!”
Asked to substantiate his allegation that the 2018 governorship election was rigged by his party, the former Deputy Speaker said “the allegation is not weighty, I have proof.”
Responding to why he is seeking to govern Osun state against an incumbent from the same party, Honourable Yussuff said: “I will not criticise anybody there now but I will talk on what I will do.
“To start with, where I did my Secondary School Certificate in 1979, 42 years ago, with a division one, and as a government scholar, about six months ago that School has not been presenting candidates for either WEAC or NECO. So, I know this, I am a grassroots man. That’s one of the few things I am going to change.
“I am a big-time farmer, I am going there to give it a facelift. As a trained Engineer, I am a developmental economist, in four years I will create an economy for Osun, I know I can do that.”
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