A Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) grassroots political organiser and strategist, Azeez Nelson, has submitted that his party failed to present a marketable candidate in the recently concluded governorship election in Osun State.

Speaking with News Express in Benin City at the weekend, Nelson criticised the choice of Iyiola Omisore as PDP’s candidate for the election, saying he wasn’t surprised that the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate and incumbent governor Rauf Aregbesola won the election convincingly.

Nelson pointed to the assassination in 2001 of former Minister of Justice Bola Ige as a key election issue in Osun that brought down Omisore.

He said: “As you know, Omisore was some years ago accused of complicity in the murder of former Justice Minister Bola Ige during the administration of Olusegun Obasanjo. Though he was eventually cleared by the court, many Osun people believed they knew what happened to their illustrious son (Ige) and they were not convinced with the court’s opinion that Omisore’s hands were clean.”

Nelson was also critical of what he believes is his party’s failure to deal with the internal wrangling that led to the decamping of a frontline politician Olagusoye Oyinlola to the APC just days to the election.

“The PDP failed to tackle issues head on and made the mistake of thinking Oyinlola was a tree who couldn’t make a forest. His defection to APC with just a few days to the election in Osun state ensured the complete ruin of PDP as far as the governorship election was concerned,” Nelson argued.

•Photo shows Azeez Nelson.