Governorship candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party and the Labour Party in Osun State, Senator Iyiola Omisore and Alhaji Fatai Akinbade respectively on Saturday shunned a radio debate organised for them and Governor Rauf Aregbesola. The debate which was organised by a United States of America-based International Republican Institute was billed to be broadcast live on Osun State Broadcasting Corporation Osogbo on Saturday.

Aregbesola, who was said to have gone to Mecca for the lesser hajj was said to have cut short his trip and returned to honour the debate but his co-debaters failed to show up. The Director of Publicity, Research and Strategy of the All Progressives Congress in the state, Mr. Kunle Oyatomi, in a statement said Omisore ran away from the debate. The statement read, “ The PDP’s gubernatorial candidate in the August 9 election in Osun, Iyiola Omisore, squandered a golden opportunity to confront the incumbent governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, in a public radio debate when he ran away from participating.

“The debate was sponsored by the American-based International Republican Institute and put together by the Osun State Broadcasting Corporation for a live transmission in Osogbo. Saturday. “Osun citizens had waited with bated breath to hear Omisore articulate his accusations against the governor on such issues as the debt profile of the state, the school reform programme and the vexed issue of capital flight. “But it turned out to be almost an interview and not a debate because Omisore ran away. “However, Aregbesola advanced his arguments virtually without challenge that the best thing to have happened in Osun since it was created are his programmes which the PDP wants to destroy.”

Omisore had earlier said that he was ready for a debate with Aregbesola but he expressed the fear that the governor might physically assault him. The media aide of the LP candidate, Mr. Kayode Oladeji, when contacted said that his principal did not shun the debate because he sent his running mate to represent him at the debate. Oladeji said the LP candidate had a very urgent and equally important assignment he was attending to hence the decision to send his running mate. He said, “Alhaji Akinbade still sent his running mate, Mr. Michael Adenipekun,to go and represent him. “He got there but they said that they would not accept any representative so, it is not right to say Akinbade shunned the debate, you cannot divorce the office of the governor from the deputy cause they are running on a joint ticket.”

Omisore had earlier said he was ready for a debate with Aregbesola but he expressed the fear that the governor might physically assault him. Omisore said, “How can I be afraid of engaging him in a debate? But when argument is being drawn between two unequal parties, the weaker of the two may result to physical assault and harassment. We don’t want this to happen. “Aregbesola has not hidden the fact that he has personal hatred for me and people tell me all sorts of lies he fabricates to disparage me. You don’t expect more than that from a barely literate politician like him.

You remember that Aregbesola presented O’level to INEC. So we need an assurance that Ogbeni will not resort to physical assault if he is confronted with hard facts with evidence. “ Once we are assured that decorum would be allowed and that our safety is guaranteed, I am ready for the debate.”

SOURCE: http://www.punchng.com/news/omisore-lp-candidate-shun-debate-with-aregbesola/

If no be PANaDOL it can neva be PANADOL -so Mr gubernatorial aspirant come n stand n speak for urself n stop sending cankerworm .

You see,when someone posted this mans Resume ysterdy,pdp guys were abusing there acn counterparts.pdp guys boasting abt omisore see una life ?honestly in my own opinióN this guy cant be compared with aregbe walahi.modes if you dont want me and other puré minds in this forum confirm that you are biased,pls take this thread to frontpage .

You see.

PDP with its low quality people.

I never knew that program was meant to be a sort of debate, thought the incumbent arranged the question and answer program all for himself. He had all the time to clear up controversies.

PDP’s Omisore, LP’s Akinbade absent at Osun Governorship Election Debate
Ben Ezeamalu - 17 hours ago
Featured News, News

Mr. Omisore had in early July accepted the challenge to debate Governor Rauf Aregbesola. But he did not turn up at Saturday’s radio debate.

=================

The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party [PDP] in the August 9 governorship election in Osun state, Iyiola Omisore, on Saturday failed to show up at a radio debate organized for the three leading candidates in the election.

Also absent at the debate organized by the International Republican Institute [IRI] was the candidate of the Labour Party [LP] in the election, Fatai Akinbade.

The absence of other leading contenders in the election left the candidate of the All Progressives Congress [APC], Rauf Aregbesola, having all the time allotted for the “Manifesto Hour” programme to himself.

The LP candidate, Mr. Akinbade, sent his running mate to stand in for him but organisers disallowed him from participating, saying the rule was that candidates would not be represented by proxies.

The candidate of the Unity Party of Nigeria [UPN], Ibrahim Adeoti, who was not invited to the debate, however walked into the studio towards the end of the programme, insisting to be allowed to participate. He was allowed time to speak.

Organizers said they were shocked that Messrs Omisore and Akinbade failed to attend the debate.

“We wrote to them and up to 20 minutes to the beginning of the programme, they were still giving us the impression they would be attending,” said Ezenwa Nwagwu, an official of the Partners for Electoral Reform, who moderated the debate on behalf of the IRI.

“We even started the debate 45 minutes late just because we were waiting for the PDP and LP candidates to show up.”

But when contacted, Mr. Omisore said he was not properly invited to the debate.

Speaking through his Director of Media and Strategy, Diran Odeyemi, Mr. Omisore said he did not receive any formal letter inviting him, a claim the organizers rejected.

“It was only this morning that our candidate (Mr. Omisore) received a text message reminding him of the debate and that he was being expected at the OSBC studios,” Mr. Odeyemi told PREMIUM TIMES.

“We did not receive any letter from them. We have a rally today in Ikirun and as I speak to you, we are on our way there.”

But Mr. Nwagwu rejected Mr. Odeyemi’s claim, describing it as “mere political shenanigan”.

“We invited them properly,” Mr. Nwagwu said. “It was not verbal invitations. We wrote them letters and the records are there. If we did not properly invite them, how did the APC candidate attend? How did the LP candidate get to send his running mate?”

The Labour Party however told PREMIUM TIMES its candidate was properly invited to the debate but that he could not attend because he had to be elsewhere.

“In order not to create a vacuum, he sent his running mate but the organizers did not allow him to speak,” said Kayode Oladeji, the spokesperson for Mr. Akinbade, the LP candidate.

“As far as we are concerned, we fulfilled all righteousness. It is the organisers thst should explain why they did not allow our candidate’s running mate to participate.”

In response, Mr. Nwagwu said the rules were clear from the start. “We had made it clear that only candidates, and not their running mates were expected to participate. There was no room for running mates and they all know that.”

http://premiumtimesng.com/news/165597-pdps-omisore-lps-akinbade-absent-at-osun-governorship-election-debate.html

Seems accadmic achievement ain't that relevant as portrayed by many Nigerians in assessing our politicians for brilliance and those that would govern well. What can we say of a PhD Holder that's too empty to confront a politechnic graduate in a debate on governance?!