BY TIMOTHY AGBOR, OSOGBO
The feud between the immediate past governor of Osun State, Gboyega Oyetola and his predecessor, Rauf Aregbesola, has worsened since the latter returned to the state after he completed his national assignment as Minister of Interior under former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
Even before Aregbesola’s homecoming, loyalists of Oyetola had held him at the jugular and declared him a persona non-grata in the state.
Eventually, they couldn’t stop Aregbesola from returning home as the former Minister was ushered into the state in grand style by his supporters about a week ago.
Addressing his supporters who are members of the All Progressives Congress, Aregbesola declared that he was now ready for full politicking in the state and that he would restructure the party.
The former governor also begged for forgiveness from those he might have offended, saying he would not beg anyone again.
However, on Aregbesola’s homecoming day, spokesperson to Oyetola, Ismail Omipidan issued a piece which he entitled: “Powers behind the throne: Era of ‘Go and See Rauf’ Appears Gone!”
Omipidan said Aregbesola was not welcomed by the genuine Osun APC members, saying, “As minister, he was treated to a celebratory banquet by the APC Government in Osun, led by Adegboyega Oyetola. Today, he is being welcomed not by the Osun State APC.
“While in Abuja, he never participated in any election here in Osun. He never showed any iota of concern for Osun as a minister during the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic. It is on record that as a member of the Presidential Committee on COVID-19, Aregbesola behaved as though Osun needed no support from the Federal Government to the extent that after Osun successfully contained the famous Ejigbo 127 Ivory Coast returnees, he almost forced another set on Osun.
“If the so-called ‘welcome home’ gathering is to relaunch himself back to political reckoning, I think Aregbesola and those behind it have missed the point again.
“But if it is to continue his political war against the party and persons that brought him to political reckoning, it is a good start. Unfortunately, he and those behind it may not go far either, unless the Osun State PDP government is willing and ready to fund the political war. Historically speaking, since 1999, those that are today waging war on the progressives in Osun have never spent their personal money to advance any political cause. They have always relied on Tinubu’s financial war chest and government’s money. Once these two sources of funding are blocked, give them six months from now, the market will cease to exist and the traders will go their separate ways.”
Also speaking recently, the immediate past spokesperson of the Nigerian Senate, Ajibola Basiru, questioned the membership of Aregbesola in Osun APC and said the former Minister was no longer recognised as a political leader in the major opposition party.
Basiru said he had, before the 2022 governorship election in the state where Oyetola lost, warned Aregbesola against the factionalisation of the party and that Aregbesola should not take steps that may lead to “mutual destruction.”
The former lawmaker, a chieftain of Osun APC said he had in a letter to Aregbesola titled “Position Paper on the state of the party in Osun,” dated March 8, 2021, warned the former Minister against factionailising the party, saying, “I was shocked that some of our people are planning on defecting to PDP and in fact are already holding meetings with them.
“There is absolutely no reason to have a parallel structure since, to the best of my knowledge, we clearly have no candidate to field for 2022. I believe that without an open declaration of open contestation and the attendant possible acrimony some of our people who are committed to work in their areas will emerge in their respective wards and local governments.
“Unnecessary public utterances (either in conventional or social media) should be absolutely avoided even in the face of provocation and unwarranted attack. Such attacks are not effective against a settled popularity and calculated distraction. I think we should approach the political processes and developments tactfully and not to take drastic steps that may irreversibly lead to possible mutual destruction,” Basiru had said in the letter.
The Point gathered that Oyetola’s camp has been making every move possible to ensure that Aregbesola does not take control of the party.
