Osun: Oyetola Attacks Aregbesola Again

By Tosin Olatokunbo

Governor Gboyega Oyetola of Osun state has finally removed what remained of his predecessor’s legacies in the state. The governor, on Friday, sacked all the council chairmen and other political office holders left by Rauf Aregbesola, the former governor of the state and Nigeria’s Minister of the Interior.

The council bosses who have been directed to handover government properties were elected at the tail end of Aregbesola’s tenure. Since the former governor left office, the relationship between him and the incumbent has taken turn for the worst. Oyetola was Aregbesola’s Chief of Staff.

In a statement by the Secretary to the State Government, Wole Oyebamiji, titled ‘Important public notice’ on Friday, the governor said the council bosses have stayed beyond their legally approved terms.

The statement said “The Executive Governor of the State of Osun, Mr Adegboyega Oyetola has directed all political office holders at the Local Government Councils to vacate their respective offices and hand over the Administration of their concerned Councils to the most Senior Local Government Personnel.

“This is in pursuant to the expiration of the tenure of all political Office holders in all the Local Government, Area Development Councils and Administrative offices in Osun on Friday, 5th February, 2021. Governor Oyetola appreciates their individual contributions to the development of the state and wishes them well in their future engagements.”

Watchers of the state insist that the action will further worsen the crisis of confidence between the two former allies, as well as, divide the All Progressives Congress in the state.Most of the sacked council bosses are said to be Aregbesola’s loyalists.

Apart from sacking the council bosses, the governor had recently reversed some policies initiated by his predecessor. These include the directive, last September, to public schools in the state to revert to their old names contrary to what obtained when Aregbesola was governor.

Five months ago, the state government released a circular, where it stated that it would no longer carry on with the old policy. Titled ‘Reverting: Reclassification nomenclature of schools to old status’,  Oyetola ordered the immediate implementation of reversal of the name of the schools.

“Recall that at the policy review roundtable summit on some extant policies in Education Sector held between 20 and 21 of February 2020, His Excellency, Mr. Adegboyega Oyetola approved that schools should revert to their pre-reclassification names and nomenclatures.”

“Sequel to the above, all schools are hereby directed to revert to their old names with immediate effect as approved by the Osun State government,” the memo said.

Governor Oyetola had set up the Policy Review Roundtable Summit, as soon as he came into office to review the education policies of his predecessor. While those close to the former governor said, the action was targeted at eroding the legacies of Aregbesola, the governor’s supporters on their parts said Governor Oyetola was trying to assert himself as the state’s chief executive.

At least no fewer than nine of the education programmes of the former governor have been reversed in the past months.

Receiving the report of the Review Panel on February 24 last year, the governor said his action was based on the need to develop a people oriented policies.

Oyetola said, “As a government, our policies and programmes are driven by citizens’ needs. These needs, which were further validated by the United Kingdom Department for International Development-funded Citizens Needs Assessment exercise in Osun, were harvested during the Thank You Tour/Town Hall Meetings, where the people told us in plain language that they wanted some aspects of our educational policies removed, adjusted or improved upon.”

As painful as it is, former Governor Aregbesola has not made any public statement indicating a rift with his successor, but the fact that the former political allies have gone their separate ways could not be far-fetched from their recent actions, analyst say.

Their feud, deepened last year after the two camps decided to organize separate rallies to celebrate the party’s control of the state. While Aregbesola’s supporters said they will organize a rally to celebrate Aregbesola’s relevance and achievements in APC, the governor on the other hand was planning to commemorate his one year in office.

The contention nearly set the state on fire, but was eventually settled amicably by Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu a former Lagos state governor and APC National Leader and Bisi Akande, a former governor of the state and pioneer APC National Chairman.

The latest action by the governor, close watchers of the state insist, will further worsen the tensed relationship between the politicians as well as unsettles the peace of the grave yard being enjoyed by the ruling party in the state.

An aide to the minister told the magazine on Friday that “the former governor will fight back. The governor is using his closeness to Tinubu to do whatever he likes with the party in Osun state. But we will not allow him to destroy all we have worked for before he came to power.”

Governor Oyetola is Asiwaju Tinubu’s cousin. He rode on the crest of the APC strongman to power.