Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State’s target in the August 9 governorship election is not only to win with a landslide, but also to defeat his major challenger, Senator Iyiola Omisore of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in his (Omisore) ward.
This was disclosed by his Senior Special Assistant on Research, Planning and Policy Implementation (Federal Matters) Prince Olusegun Bada yesterday in Abuja while speaking to The Nation.
It would be recalled that Omisore lost in his bid to return to the Senate after he was defeated by Senator Jide Omoworare of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the 2011 general elections.
According to Bada, the only place where Omisore won in that senatorial election was in his ward, adding: “We are not only looking forward to defeating him in the governorship election. That is an understatement. We are also looking forward to beating him in his constituency and ward”.
Bada said his boss had performed excellently and expressed confidence that he would be re-elected.
His words: “Even people within the PDP know that their candidate cannot win. You cannot win when you are against the people. Winning an election is based on track record and the records of both candidates are there.
“Aregbesola has tarred 10km roads in each local government area. He has not spent four years in office and has tarred over 600km of roads. And we are targeting 1,000km.
“He has done backward and forward linkage with access to agricultural products. He has created an enabling environment for hospitality, and for small scale and manufacturing businesses to thrive. He has made Osun State peaceful for coexistence among various ethnic and religious groups”.