“I Outsmarted Adamu”: Omisore Reveals How He Helped Deliver Tinubu as APC Candidate

The battle that produced Bola Tinubu as the APC’s presidential candidate in 2022 may have ended at the ballot box, but one of the men who operated behind the scenes has now offered a glimpse into how the contest was fought.

Former APC National Secretary, Iyiola Omisore, says he had a clear assignment: deliver the party’s presidential ticket to a South-Westerner.

Speaking on Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, Omisore said the then APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, favoured retaining the presidency in the North after Muhammadu Buhari’s eight years in office.

Omisore, however, said he was working towards a different political destination.

“My mandate was to deliver South-West for Presidency,” he said.

The former Osun deputy governor described the contest inside the party’s National Working Committee as a clash of different interests represented by politicians from different parts of the country.

He said his approach was not about attacking Adamu or others who had their own political calculations.

“If you want to be smart and I outsmarted you, to God be the glory,” Omisore said.

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The revelation offers another look at the internal calculations that preceded the June 2022 APC presidential primary.

At the time, Adamu announced then-Senate President Ahmad Lawan as the party’s consensus candidate. The move, however, failed to secure the backing of several northern governors, who preferred Tinubu.

The primary eventually went ahead, with Tinubu defeating Lawan, former Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, former Transport Minister Rotimi Amaechi and other aspirants.

Omisore said the important point was that the primary eventually allowed delegates to vote.

He argued that a transparent primary reduced the likelihood of prolonged disputes because contestants could see the process as legitimate.

Tinubu went on to win the February 2023 presidential election and was inaugurated as president in May of that year.

Two months later, both Adamu and Omisore left their positions as APC national chairman and national secretary respectively, paving the way for a new leadership structure.

Omisore’s account does not erase the many competing interests that shaped the 2022 contest. Instead, it adds the perspective of a senior party official who says he entered the contest with a specific regional objective and succeeded.

For Nigerian politics, the episode remains a reminder that what voters eventually see on the ballot is often preceded by months of negotiations, alliances and internal calculations.

ValidViewNetwork reports that Omisore’s latest account offers a rare glimpse into that less visible side of the 2022 APC presidential contest.