BY TIMOTHY AGBOR, OSOGBO
The Youth Wing of the All Progressives Congress in Osun State has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to call the former governor of the state and incumbent Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola to order over the minister’s alleged vendetta move which it said was capable of destroying the party in the state.
Addressing a press conference at the APC Secretariat in Osogbo on Wednesday, Osun APC Youth Leader, Goke Akinwemimo, accused the Minister of sponsoring a protest to blackmail the party leadership, which was carried out by his supporters in Osogbo on Tuesday.
Akinwemimo claimed that the backlogs of workers’ salary and pensions left by the administration of Aregbesola caused Governor Gboyega Oyetola defeat in the July 16 governorship election adding that, Aregbesola’s administration nearly strangulated Osun economy if not for the financial ingenuity of the current governor who redeemed the image of the party in the state.
He said Osun APC was convinced that Aregbesola instructed his supporters to vote against Oyetola adding that the minister was already making another vendetta moves to work against the presidential candidate of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and other candidates of the party in the state at the forthcoming general elections.
He noted the need for President Buhari and the national leadership of the party to caution Aregbesola and members of The Osun Progressives who are loyalists of the minister in the state, before they totally collapse the party.
Akinwemimo alleged that Aregbesola and his supporters were hobnobbing with Ademola Adeleke and the People’s Democratic Party to sink APC in Osun.
“As youth wing of the party, we are compelled to call on President Muhammadu Buhari to caution the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola on his callous and vendetta move to destroy our party in Osun on account of ego tripping and personal self-aggrandizement. The conduct is becoming worrisome, retrogressive and worst expected from a serving Minister and Former Governor who has risen to prominence with the support of the party structure.
“Apart from the fact that the Minister openly sponsored splinter groups to reduce the winning chance of our party to win the just concluded governorship election in the state, he openly declared support for opposition party and moved further to mobilise both financial and human resources including security agents under the supervision of his ministry to harass and oppress our teeming members to aid the opposition People’s Democratic Party. The PDP candidate openly stated he received support from Aregbesola’s allies. Also, the leading figures of his splinter group have since decamped to the PDP.
This is aside from the fact of using his widely uncirculated newsletter, Osun Defender, to attack our party and Governor Gboyega Oyetola.
“Least to say, Rauf Aregbesola has become a liability and political virus to Osun APC with his conduct and appears to be on a mission to ground our party in the state in aid of the PDP. At this moment, we cannot remain silent as youths who have strong confidence in the prospects of APC and capacity to win future elections.
“For clarity, the Minister and his allies massively mobilised and voted against our party in the just concluded governorship election, and openly mocked our party’s declared loss after the July 16th election. For this alone, the Minister and his allies have lost every moral ground to even claim membership of our party, in fact, if it were to be in a saner clime, he ought to have resigned as our party member and relinquish his ministerial position because his heart and soul is no longer with our party. If the minister has any wish for our party, it is total collapse, but he will fail in his sinister mission.
“Finally, we have strong confidence in the leadership of our Governor, Mr. Adegboyega Oyetola and our responsible party Chairman, Prince Adegboyega Famodun and humbly demand a caution of the Ogbeni Aregbesola not to destroy our collective heritage, APC in Osun. We are a formidable party with capacity to deliver,” he said.
While reacting, the Secretary of TOP, Lani Baderinwa described the APC leaders in the state as a set of irresponsible and shameless people who ought to have resigned since the party was defeated at the last poll.
Baderinwa urged the national leadership of the party to restructure the party and ensure the removal of the party chairman, Gboyega Famodun.
“For any reasonable person in a saner clime, he (Famodun) should have resigned after losing the election so scandalously. It’s only a bad worker that will blame his tools. They are shameless and irresponsible,” he said.
Also reacting, the Media Adviser to the Minister, Sola Fasure asked the party youths to desist from blaming Aregbesola for the party’s failure.
He said, “The youth are clearly misguided. For close to four years, the refrain of their sponsors was that Aregbesola was no longer relevant in the APC and Osun politics.
“He was subjected to all forms of scurrilous attacks, including armed invasion on his campaign office on two occasions. Buoyed by the false notion of their superiority, they practiced ruinous exclusivity and shunned any call for reconciliation and inclusion of other members of the party.
“It is curious that having been disgracefully pummeled in the governorship election of July 16, they turned round to blame Aregbesola for the disastrous consequences of their hubris.
“How could the person you derided as being insignificant and irrelevant now be held accountable for your failure? Their reaction has shown they have not learnt any lesson and they may be doomed to a concatenation of more defeats.
“I will urge them to do real soul searching, come down from the high horse and amend their errant ways. For the youth, I will advise them to sit down and watch Politics 101.”
