“President Tinubu Trusted His Life With Rauf Aregbesola” – Prof Adeyeye

By Gideon Njoku

“Whatever came between them must be political power tussle. To Aregbesola, Tinubu was next to God. I have tried to settle them, but failed”

For Professor Olusola Adeyeye, the broken down relationship between President Bola Tinubu and former Governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola, could count as one of the seven wonders of the world.

Considering how extremely close both were to each other, Professor Adeyeye, a former Chief Whip of the Senate, said the broken relationship is difficult to understand.

Adeyeye expressed these sentiments when he spoke in the evening  of Sunday, March 2, on Channels Television.

Aregbesola was Tinubu’s Commissioner for Works when the President was the Governor of Lagos State. Thereafter, Aregbesola, with a very massive support from Tinubu, morally and financially, became a two-term Governor of Osun State, and after that, Minister for Interior under the APC Government of President Muhammadu Buhari.

But the very close friends have since fallen apart to the surprise and shock of those who knew how deep their love for each other was.

Lamenting the sad situation, Professor Adeyeye said it must be as a result of a political tussle. He disclosed that the relationship was so close that Aregbesola literally worshipped Tinubu like a god. After the Almighty God, Adeyeye said, to Aregbesola, Tinubu was next.

To confirm, Adeyeye told a story of how Tinubu once said, at a meeting, that if he were to be asleep, and Aregbesola walked in with a knife or a dagger, nobody should bother to wake him up because Aregbesola would never hurt him.

Adeyeye: “If you want to get between Aregbesola and Tinubu, you’ll fail; they were so close that I was at a meeting where Tinubu said that if you see him sleeping and you see Rauf coming with a dagger or a knife, don’t wake him, Rauf will never injure me.

“For Rauf, the only entity in the universe that is greater than President Bola Tinubu is God.”

He said he cannot quite put a finger on what came between them, but strongly speculated that it had to do with Aregbesola’s successor, Gboyega Oyetola.

Oyetola was Aregbesola’s Chief of Staff, who he later disclosed, in the heat of his quarrel with Tinubu, was forced on him by the President, who also forced it on him as his successor in office. However, no thanks to the broken relationship, Oyetola ended up as a one-term Governor as Aregbesola and his loyalists looked the other way while the now- incumbent Governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke, whipped him at the polls. In deed, the relationship became so messy, that at a point, Aregbesola publicly cursed Tinubu.

Adeyeye: “So I never know what happened between them. I have a feeling that it has to do with Rauf thinking Bola Tinubu sided with his own brother (Oyetola) against him; I leave the two of them to settle that.”

Adeyeye revealed that there have been multiple attempts to repair the broken relationship, but none has been successful.

Adeyeye: “I tried my best. Let me tell you, power is a terrible thing. The game of thrones is treacherous in Nigeria. If the two of them want to settle, it’s not impossible but I attempted in the past, not once, not twice, several times, but I failed.”

Aregbesola and his loyalists have recently left the APC after years of an, almost, non-existent, or at best, rancour-filled relationship with the Party. They have, however, not joined any political party yet.