Today will decide whether the All Progressives Congress National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu along with his political godson, Governor Gboyega Oyetola is in charge of the party in Osun State, or not.
Interior Minister and estranged godson to Tinubu, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has boasted that he controls APC and has raised his former Secretary to State Government, Moshood Adeoti, to challenge Oyetola for the APC governorship ticket.
Aregbesola is immediate past governor of Osun and has fallen out with his successor, Oyetola, who is Tinubu’s nephew.
The minister is angry that Governor Gboyega has done away with his (Aregbesola’s) legacies and has also undermined his political relevance within the party, and he is ready to pay back the governor in his own coin.
But as the hostility rages, the Governor Oyetola faction of the Osun APC has warned Aregbesola to desist from attacking the person of Tinubu.
The Chairman, Osun APC Elders’ Caucus popularly known as ‘Igbimo Agba’, Elder Sola Akinwumi, particularly expressed disappointment in the minister “for descending so low to engage in uncharitable public street show”.
Akinwumi condemned the act in its totality, describing it as a display of thuggery and hooliganism that is unbefitting of a former governor of the state.
The APC chieftain made the statement while receiving Governor Adegboyega Oyetola in his residence at the weekend
He also wondered why Aregbesola went about attacking the person of Tinubu, whereas the latter had not uttered a word against the minister.
Describing the act as that of an ingrate or the biblical Judas, Akinwumi wondered whether it was not Aregbesola who once described Tinubu as his benefactor and god, that he is someone he must never betray in his life.
Aregbesola had on Monday paraded some streets in Osogbo in a motorcade.
With him was Adeoti, the erstwhile SSG and factional ‘anointed aspirant’ of the ‘The Osun Progressives’ (TOP), a splinter group within the APC.
They both campaigned against Tinubu and Oyetola as they went around.
Akinwumi, who lampooned the erstwhile governor for acting like a baby politician, commended Governor Oyetola for his display of maturity and competence in handling the matter.
The party elder statesman thus called on the aggrieved members of the ruling party to return to the party and stop being deceived by those who have nothing to offer them.
Meanwhile, while assuring Governor Adegboyega Oyetola of their support, the Osun APC’s elder’s caucus berated Aregbesola over what they described as a show of rascality.
“The erstwhile bovernor belittles himself and I am very sure he didn’t know the implications of what he did. He acted so low and naively as if he was the sitting Governor.
“Was he telling us that there are two Governors in the State? Has he forgotten that he was no longer a Governor? Well be it as it was, we have known his intention and we leave everyone to his or her conscience.
“I commend the way and manner our Governor has been managing the circumstance over time. He has demonstrated patience, tolerance, and integrity”, Akinwumi further spoke for the elders.
Replying Aregbesola, however, a group loyal to Tinubu also on Friday described Aregbesola as witnessing an avoidable psychological ‘LOW’ at the moment.
In a statement, the group, Movement Against Societal Hypocrisy (MASH( said Aregbesola was fighting a hypocritical, lost battle against the establishment in Osun, his home state.
MASH in the statement by its Secretary-General, Hakeem Adisa, stated, “By Saturday, going by Nigeria’s most recurring standard political practice, his preferred person will lose the governorship primary against the state’s incumbent governor.
“And any contemplation of this adds to Aregbesola’s frustration, despite being a powerful sitting minister of the federal republic.
“His regrettably condemnable vituperation against the person of ASIWAJU BOLA AHMED TINUBU notwithstanding, there’s still hope of him retracing his steps, with forgiven consequences because of JAGABAN’s largeheartedness.
It also quoted Tinubu as saying, “I plan for betrayal: I plan for backstabbing: I also plan for reunion and forgiveness long before they happen.”
But in his defence, Aregbesola disclosed that he begged Governor Adegboyega Oyetola for two years to forestall the present crisis on the party but Oyetola did not heed.
This is as he urged the party faithful in the state to reject the governor and vote for Adeoti to emerge as the party candidate in Saturday’s governorship primary election.
Addressing party members in Ikire, Irewole local government headquarters, the Minister noted that it is time to restore Osun to the hands of true progressives which the party members must key into to entrench the dividends of democracy.
“There is no harm in replacing someone who is not doing well and not in tandem with progressive ideals. That is what we are working on and that is why we have come to you.
“I worked very hard to ensure Oyetola’s election. It was however a rude shock when he got into office and started a grand witch-hunt against me. We campaigned for Oyetola through thick and thin to make him Governor. It was however surprising to see how he was doing to me when he got to the office.
“When he started doing it, I sent emissaries and started begging him. This went on for two years. I continued to send emissaries to him to appeal to him. I begged him too. I even told him not to like me at all, but not destroy my good works or personality. He did not heed to this. He kept on with his witch-hunt.
“He said I did not support him to become Governor. I appealed to him that he may not even like me, but he should not tarnish my image or destroy my legacies and that of our party, the true progressives in Osun politics. He did not listen. He was bent on destroying me and that’s what he has done.
“After two years, genuine party leaders gathered together with the sole aim of rescuing our party from these marauders. That is what we are here to do. We were the ones who sweat hard for the progress and success our party has achieved. We brought the former party Chairman, (Famodun) from the PDP. It is time to send them packing.”
Meanwhile, barely 24 hours to the governorship primarie, party chieftains are making frantic moves to mend the cracks and unite the two factions of the party in the state.
With the primaries slated for February 19, party leaders have been in a race against time to reconcile the two warring factions.
It was gathered that the leaders had mandated three governors to meet Mr Aregbesola last Tuesday to commence the process for reconciliation.
Also, the minister’s political associates were said to have flown into Abuja from Lagos, Kano, Kaduna, and some South-East states to prevail on him to be open to reconciliation in order to save the party.
A source close to the meeting gave two of those who moved to compel Mr Aregbesola to accept reconciliation to be the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation, Solomon Adeola, and the party’s organising secretary in Lagos, Abdulahi Enilolobo.
It was also gathered that three governors of the APC, Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos), Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi) and David Umahi (Ebonyi) had urgently travelled to Abuja to meet Mr Aregbesola and appealed to him to consider reaching a consensus.
Aregbesola reportedly gave the governors one condition to sheathe his sword: that Governor Oyetola allow a free and fair primaries.
The spokesperson to Mr Aregbesola, Sola Fasure, said that, indeed, meetings had been held to prevail on his principal. He, however, said he could not confirm the identity of the peacemakers nor the content of their discussion.
“What I will say is that the caucus of the former Governor and Minister for Interior are ready for the primaries but on the preparedness of the national secretariat for the primaries, I can’t speak for them.
“The political system always have an unending negotiation. There is always moves and there will continue to be moves.”
It was further gathered that Tinubu rebuffed attempts to broker peace with Mr Aregbesola and party leaders have continued to persuade him to put the party’s interest first.
Tunde Rahman, Mr Tinubu’s spokesperson, declined comments.
- Additional report from: Premium Times