In a one-on-one interview with Nigerian citizen journalist Kayode Ogundamisi at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra, Ghana, Senator Iyiola Omisore of Osun state has admitted that a tape released by SaharaReporters detailing how some politicians met with a Nigerian army general to plot the rigging of last year’s gubernatorial election in Ekiti was real and authentic.
Cornered by the interviewer Mr. Omisore admitted that Governor Ayo Fayose, Minister of Police Affairs, Jelili Adesiyan, Musiliu Obanikoro (then minister of state for defense) met with Brigadier General Aliyu Momoh to work out a modality to stop the momentum of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the election which the APC subsequently lost. However, Mr. Omisore claimed that all he said on the tape was “Calm Down, All Down”, apparently referring to the point at which he intervened when Gov Fayose and others began bullying Brig. General Momoh. Omisore's assertion is, however, untrue according to the 37-minute tape. In another instance during the meeting, Omisore asked the army general why he had not arrested the campaign director of Fayose's opponent, Bimbo Daramola.
Omisore is the latest person amongst the dramatist personae involved in the rigging plot to confess to the authenticity of the tape. Earlier, the minister for police affairs, Jelili Adesiyan owned to up to the content of the tape and his involvement by declaring that he was at the meeting, also the beneficiary of the rigging Ayodele Fayose, who earlier claimed the tape was made with a voice software recently recanted and confessed to his participation in the plot.
However, Senator Obanikoro, who was recently renominated as the Minister of state for Defense has embarked on a series of attempts to silence SaharaReporters and other journalists reporting the electoral fraud by threatening to sue the journalists in Nigeria and New York state. Obanikoro’s nomination awaits confirmation by the Nigerian Senate. Opposition APC party Senators have vowed to oppose his nomination, but observers believe that the corrupt members of the Nigerian Senate would likely confim his appointment after receiving a bribe.