The Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, flag bearer in the August 9 governorship election in Osun State, Senator Iyiola Omisore, yesterday threatened to drag his arch-political rival, Governor Rauf Aregbesola to court over a statement allegedly credited to the All Progressives Congress, APC, candidate, that he (Omisore) was an ex-convict.
But Aregbesola remained defiant, challenging the PDP guber candidate to go to court if he was uncomfortable with his statement.
Reacting to Omisore’s threat through the state Commissioner for Information and strategy, Sunday Akere, Gov. Aregbesola said Omisore was free to go to court on any issue, saying it was an attempt to distract the government.
In a letter by his Lawyer, Mr. Kehinde Adesiyan, in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, Omisore described the statement allegedly credited to Aregbesola as a “reckless outburst”.
Information Nigeria reports that Aregbessola made reference to Omisore as an ex-prisoner during a political rally recently in the state.
However, the toga of an ex-convict did not go down well with Omisore, who called on the governor to apologise to him formally or face legal action, arguing that Aregbesola’s action was unexpected of a political office holder like him.
The letter dated 30th April, 2014 reads in part “you may wish to be advised that the fact that you are today a Governor does not mean that legal action cannot be taken against you on civil action. Omisore advised Aregbesola to retract the statements allegedly credited to him in his own interest before he was dragged to court.
“Senator Omisore was only detained in Agodi prison during his prosecution for alleged role in the death of Chief Bola Ige. He was later discharged and acquitted by a competent court.
“Omisore’s case cannot be compared with that of the National Chairman of your party, Chief Bisi Akande who was prosecuted and convicted and sentenced to a term of imprisonment by a competent Tribunal established by law in 1984″, the statement stated.
