Osun 2022: Aregbesola Lashes Tinubu, Calls Him A Betrayer, Says Oyetola Imposed

By Akinwale Kasali

The re-election bid of Osun State Governor, Gboyega Oyetola has further polarized the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the State and  brought a rift between echelons of the Party.

Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, who is part of the Osun State Progressive Group has not hidden his position on the re-election bid of Oyetola, frowning at his alleged imposition of  on the People of Osun against their wish.

The former Osun State Governor  slammed the National Leader of the Party, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who is backing the reelection of Oyetola alongside the former National Chairman of the Party, Bisi Akande.

Aregbesola, addressing members of the Party in Ijebu Ijesha area of Osun State ahead of Saturday’s Governorship Primary Election in the State said Tinubu and Akande betrayed the trust of the People.

Speaking further, the former Lagos State Commissioner for Works declared that enough is enough for the politics of godfatherism and enthronement by treacherous leaders who equated themselves to the status of a god.

Lamenting that Tinubu repaid his trust with betrayal Aregbesola accused the 2023 Presidential Aspirant Tinubu, and former Governor of Osun State, Akande, of foisting the current Governor of the State, Gboyega Oyetola, on the people, against popular will.

Aregbesola, who leads an APC faction in the State and who had been engaged in a feud with his successor, Oyetola, accused the incumbent Governor of not consolidating on his eight-year achievements.

Aregbesola, therefore, called on the party members in Osun to support a former Secretary to the State Government, Moshood Adeoti, in Saturday’s Governorship Primary.

The aspirants warming up for the party primary include the incumbent Governor, Oyetola,former Deputy Speaker of House of Representatives, Yusuff Lasun, and former Secretary to the State Government, Adeoti who  returned to the ruling APC in June 2020, from the Action Democratic Party.

Aregbesola pointed out that Oyetola has followed the path of former Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, who he said, worked against the laid down rules of the Party, which led to his Second term rejection by the People and was thrown out of office.

He said this will be the lot of Oyetola.

The once rosy relationship between Aregbesola and Tinubu has since hit the wall.

Oyetola is Tinubu’s Cousin,  which was why he t imposed  him on the people of the State.

But, the Minister said the Oyetola administration in the State had deviated from the true tenets of the APC, and  accused those at the helm of affairs of jettisoning true democracy and the principles which the party and its heroes stand for.

The crisis in the APC  deepened, leading to a factionalized Party in the State.

The Aregbesola faction  pursued legal option to seek recognition as the authentic APC group in the state but the High Court of Osun State  at Ikire, presided over by Justice Sikiru Oke, recently, struck out the suit instituted by the group, The Osun Progressives – a group within the APC, in the state.

A similar suit by Aregbesola’s group in respect of the Ward Congress/Executives was struck out by the Federal High Court also in February 2022, for lack of jurisdiction.

Aregbesola, urging APC members to pitch their tent with Adeoti in Saturday’s Governorship Primary,  said no man can terrify him, accusing Oyetola of working against the party and supporters. He also insisted that Oyetola, whom he insinuated was Tinubu’s younger brother, would be thrown out of office.

“Only God can terrify us, not man. Go and tell them wherever they are, we own this party. We own this Afenifere group. We own this people-loving group started by our patriarchs — (Obafemi) Awolowo and Bola Ige. This is Elder Akande’s group before he temporarily left us. This is our party. Stop calling yourself a factional group; you are not a faction; you are the authentic APC.”

Speaking further, the former Governor said, “We came back home to reposition our party to where it was meant to be because we followed the leading of our leader that we thought was a noble and reliable fellow. We followed him (Tinubu) dutifully with all sense of loyalty. Some people even thought that we were no longer Muslims because of how we cooperated with him. We dealt with him without treachery but we never knew he planned evil for us. We exalted him beyond his status and he turned himself to a god over us and we had sworn to ridicule anyone who compare himself to God. God has no competitor; He is enough to be God.

“We built this party on perseverance as well as sweat and blood. We lost a lot of people in this struggle but eventually, we came into government on November 27, 2010. We were in Government for eight years and governed according to the measure of God’s grace, everybody in Osun enjoyed our tenure.”

Aregbesola subsequently recounted how Tinubu imposed Oyetola as his successor in Osun in 2018.

“When he (Tinubu) handed over the present Governor to me around July of 2018, he (Tinubu) declared that he (Oyetola) will succeed me and continue my good works. That was what he told me. He knows he has not done so if he is listening now and he has failed to call my successor to order,” the minister protested.

Aregbesola also noted that if Tinubu and other APC members in Lagos had rejected Ambode, claiming he derailed from the original master plan, there was nothing wrong in dethroning Oyetola in Osun because he had derailed from the master plan too.

“That was how it was in Lagos at a time; a Governor derailed and the party members unseated him using the ballot boxes. As it was in Lagos yesterday, so shall it be in Osun today. What is good for the goose is also good for the gander,” he said.

With this development, there is crack in Tinubu’s empire, which may affect his 2023 Presidential Ambition if not addressed in earnest.