Group intensifies move to settle score with Tinubu, Oyetola...Read Full Article >>➤
Last week, when Rauf Aregbesola and a multitude of his followers announced their pull-out from the All Progressives Congress, it did not come to many, especially those in the know of Aregbesola’s political trajectory, as a surprise.
Before his suspension and eventual sack by the leadership of the APC, Aregbesola was known to be a staunch leader in the APC. On many occasions the group he is leading, Omoluabi Progressives, boasted it would never leave APC.
There are obvious reasons to conclude that Aregbesola’s exit and underground plot of launching a third force in Osun State have been unsettling the political scheming and dynamics ahead of the 2026 governorship election in the state.
Impeccable sources within Aregbesola political family informed The Point that while the forthcoming off-cycle governorship poll in Osun would be a second round of supremacy battle between the former governor and his successor and incumbent Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Gboyega Oyetola, Aregbesola is also skewing to align with political forces that are battling to wrestle power from President Bola Tinubu, his estranged godfather.
“The Afenifere wanted the late Funso Williams to be the governor of Lagos State and everything was set. It was Aregbesola that helped Tinubu to get the AD ticket and to defeat the All Peoples Party in Lagos State”
It is about eight years since Aregbesola severed ties with Oyetola, who served as his Chief of Staff in his eight years tenure as governor of Osun.
The love lost between Oyetola, who is said to be a relation of Tinubu, and Aregbesola snowballed into a battle between the latter and Tinubu.
Aregbesola and Tinubu had gone a long way together before political interests tore them apart. The duo had practically controlled the politics of Lagos State.
When Tinubu was the governor of the nation’s nerve centre, Aregbesola served as his Commissioner for Works. The bond was contagious to the extent that Aregbesola would say that after God, Tinubu would come next in his life. He had practically worshiped the incumbent President of Nigeria.
However, Tinubu could not hold it seeing that Aregbesola is top in the list of Oyetola’s political foes.
Aregbesola and Oyetola fell out after the 2018 governorship election following allegations of betrayal and supremacy in Osun APC.
Aregbesola had wanted to support a candidate from Osun West in the state after the expiration of his two terms of office but he was compelled by Tinubu to allow his cousin, Oyetola, to succeed him. This was in contrast to the mood and zoning formula in the state. The governorship seat had earlier been zoned to Osun West that had been marginalized for a long time but because of the respect for Tinubu, Aregbesola ensured Oyetola emerged governor in 2018.
However, the former governors in Osun became political enemies, a feud that polarised Osun APC into a party of causes. Members were divided into The Osun Progressives and IleriOluwa camps of Aregbesola and Oyetola respectively.
Amid the raging political battle with Oyetola, Aregbesola did not spare Tinubu, his former leader.
The former Minister of Interior had boasted that he owned Osun APC and that Oyetola would never taste a second term. The threat came to pass as Oyetola lost in the 2022 governorship election to incumbent Governor Ademola Adeleke of the ruling People’s Democratic Party.
It was reported that Aregbesola had directed his supporters to vote for the PDP. One could not wish away this collaboration because some close allies of Aregbesola in APC were given appointments in Adeleke’s PDP government.
The current Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment in the state, Kolapo Alimi, and former Commissioner of Finance, Wale Bolorunduro, are part of Aregbeola’s aides working in PDP government. Bolorunduro is the current chairman, Living Trust Mortgage Bank Plc, owned by the Osun State government.
Aregbesola did not equally campaign for Tinubu openly and neither was there any sign to show that he wanted Tinubu to win the 2023 Presidential election.
This development did not come to many as a surprise because a few months to the last general elections, Aregbesola, even though he did not directly mention Tinubu’s name, had launched some verbal attacks at the APC national leader, saying that Tinubu abused his leadership and suddenly assumed the god complex.
“We followed and served this leader with all our might. In fact, our loyalty to him had caused some people to start wondering if we were no longer Muslims.
“But we were with him and served him according to the admonition of our forefathers, who said when serving anyone, we should do so with sincerity and loyalty; that if you regard anyone as your principal, you must serve him wholeheartedly.
“Sadly, we didn’t know that while we wished him well, he didn’t think good of us. However, because we placed him higher than where he ordinarily should be, he started to think he is our god. Unfortunately, for him, we had sworn to God that whoever compares himself to him, we’d beg Him to bring down such a fellow,” the former governor had said.
Luckily for Tinubu, he won and compensated his cousin brother’s electoral loss with a ministerial position.
After the APC lost the Osun governorship poll in 2022, Aregbesola’s group was dissolved and subsequently metamorphosed to Omoluabi Progressives and extended hands of reconciliation to the mainstream Osun APC that is being led by Oyetola.
This move has exacerbated the internal crisis and increased political intrigues and brickbat as the 2026 governorship election in the state approaches.
There couldn’t have been peace in Osun APC because several efforts made to reconcile Oyetola and Aregbesola failed. Even Tinubu could not be appeased.
Still writhing in the pain of losing the 2022 election, the leadership of the Osun APC expelled scores of Aregbesola’s loyalists suspected to have been involved in anti-party activities, while others were suspended. The battle came to its boiling point when Aregbesola was suspended for allegedly working against the victory of Oyetola among other anti-party allegations.
Apparently aware that he was going to be eventually expelled, Aregbesola’s group penultimate Sunday announced its exit from the APC.
The Organising and Publicity Secretary of the Omoluabi Progressives, Abosede Oluwaseun, in a statement, stated that they took the decision because some of their leaders had been suspended and expelled from the party without fair hearing, and continuous denigration of the structure among others.
Not minding that Aregbesola had exited APC, the national leadership of the party announced the expulsion of the former minister.
Speaking with The Point on the next move of Aregbesola and his group, Oluwaseun said the political platform they would be moving into would be announced “soon”.
He was however emphatic that Aregbesola would not pitch tent with the PDP.
“We will announce our next move soon but I can assure you that it is not PDP,” the spokesperson of Omoluabi Progressives said.
Insiders informed The Point that Aregbeola’s group might either join forces with the New Nigeria Peoples Party or the Social Democratic Party. Already, there is a reported political romance between Aregbesola and the NNPP.
The state chairman of the party, Tosin Odeyemi, last year, led members of his executive to meet the immediate past minister at his Ilesa country home.
Meanwhile, some other political parties in the state have described Aregbesola as a political asset that cannot be sidelined.
For the People’s Democratic Party in the state, Aregbesola and his numerous followers are welcome to the ruling party.
Oladele Bamiji, the Director of Media and Publicity of Osun PDP, told The Point that Aregbesola is a strong stakeholder in the political annals of Osun and that he is a plus to any party he wishes to join. He said the doors of the party are open in case Aregbesola chooses to join forces with Adeleke in his second term bid.
“They (Aregbesola and allies) are stakeholders in the affairs of the state, politics is a game of numbers. As a political party, if anyone wants to join you, you will not chase them away. The essence of being in politics is to do good for the people and they say two good heads are better than one. So, if we now have people who are bringing something to the table, who want to join forces with us, there is no problem about that. We have other people joining us every day, so, if the Omoluabi Progressives say that their agenda is in PDP and they want to join us, they are welcome. But, for now, there is nothing on the table to suggest that they are joining us,” Bamiji said.
For Odeyemi, the chairman of the NNPP openly wooed him to the NNPP, saying the party is ready to give Aregbesola his platform to achieve his dreams for Osun people.
“Nobody can say Ogbeni Aregbesola is a political liability in Osun. He is an asset, no doubt about that. Even his former political family knows the truth. They are only shying away from it. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been shouting around that he caused their downfall during the 2022 gubernatorial election.
“I am using this opportunity to appeal to Aregbesola to consider joining our great party, NNPP. Osun State is in a state of quagmire presently, we need a positive force to reclaim it. Having Aregbesola in Osun NNPP, no doubt will also boost the party’s chances during the 2027 general election in Nigeria.
“Our ideas are the same. We all love to see the masses happy and living comfortably. We can do it together in Osun come 2026 and history will definitely be kind to us all. Therefore, with open arms, I wish to woo Ogbeni Aregbesola and his group to NNPP for a prosperous Osun.
“However, Aregbesola’s exit from APC may have also closed several efforts being made by many Yoruba leaders to reconcile him and his leader, President Bola Tinubu,” the NNPP chairman said.
Like the Omoluabi Progressives stated, political analysts further argued that Aregbesola would not join PDP because the former minister is planning to present a governorship candidate that would wrestle power from the ruling party.
“Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola is not only interested in the supremacy battle with Oyetola, he wants to entrench a government in Osun that would align with his ideas and ideals of what governance should be. He has never stopped saying this. He wants a former Secretary to the State Government, Moshood Adeoti, to bid for the governorship ticket of the political party he will be joining and that is why he cannot join PDP because Adeleke is already preparing for a second term.
“Remember that Adeoti contested against Adeleke in 2018 and lost. So, if things go the way he is planning it, Aregbesola wants to take over Osun politics and from there to the national level ahead of the 2027, where he intends to settle scores with President Bola Tinubu,” a key figure in Aregbesola’s camp who did not want to be named told The Point.
However, there are strong indications that Oyetola may have given up his ambition to seek a re-election. Sources within the party said the minister has directed APC members in Osun to support the gubernatorial ambition of the Managing Director/CEO of the National Inland Waterways Authority, Bola Oyebamiji.
“Aregbesola was nothing when he met Tinubu. Tinubu contested for Senator, he won but Aregbesola contested for the House of Representatives and he lost. Aregbesola is the best loser of an election; he never won all local governments in Ijesa land as governor”
Oyebamiji, who was Oyetola’s Commissioner for Finance hails from Ikire, in Osun West Senatorial District. Other contenders contesting for APC ticket include the national secretary of the party, Ajibola Basiru, Jide Omoworare, and Olalekan Badmus, who is the Executive Director of Marine Operations, Nigerian Port Authority, and former Commissioner for Special Duties in the state.
Corroborating the information that Aregbesola’s political agenda goes beyond Osun, his media aide, Sola Fasure disclosed that Aregbesola now has support groups all over the country for rescue missions and that the President Tinubu led administration has brought hardship to Nigerians and needed to be changed.
He suggested that some key political figures across the country are already meeting to intervene in the political situation in Nigeria.
According to Fasure, “Aregbesola is a political bride now because what is happening is not just in Osun, it is all over the country. Nobody is comfortable with the way this country is now and I am sure you would agree with me that this country is no longer what it used to be. All over the country, people are coming to him (Aregbesola). Omoluabi Progressives has become a platform in Osun, Ekiti and they are doing the same thing in Ondo, Ogun and Lagos. It is a political re-awakening all over the country because everybody has seen that the APC national government is leading nowhere; they have destroyed this country, let us not make any pretense. I am not sure if your life has been better for the last few years; the value of money has been diminishing. The matter has gone through so many processes and a lot of people are trying to intervene.”
When asked about the present relationship between Aregbesola and his estranged godfather, Fasure said “The relationship between them has always been a mutually beneficial relationship.”
He explained that President Tinubu’s Senatorial ambition in 1993 was made possible by the input of Aregbesola, adding that the former governor has been instrumental to the President’s political progress when the journey was rosy between them.
Fasure further revealed how Aregbesola assisted Tinubu’s political career, saying, “Aregbesola was the one who made Asiwaju a Senator and I am saying it authoritatively; if anyone has a contradicting opinion, let the person come and say it now. When Bola Tinubu retired from Mobil Oil, he joined politics and wanted to be a Senator, it was Rauf Aregbesola he came to. Aregbesola was already an established politician in Lagos State at that time and Tinubu needed the Social Democratic Party ticket for Lagos West Senatorial District. It was Aregbesola that delivered for him. When he wanted to contest for governor, the first person he called was Rauf Aregbesola. It was Aregbesola that helped him to win the Alliance for Democracy ticket.
“The Afenifere wanted the late Funso Williams to be the governor of Lagos State and everything was set. It was Aregbesola that helped Tinubu to get the AD ticket and to defeat the All Peoples Party in Lagos State.”
On his principal’s next move, he said, “A lot of people are waiting for the next thing to be done, I will just appeal to them, just hold on. Omoluabi Progressives will lead them to the right path.”
However, an APC chieftain, Jamiu Olawumi who served as a Special Adviser on Education to former governor Oyetola, berated Fasure over the claims, saying, “Aregbesola was nothing when he met Tinubu. Tinubu contested for Senator, he won but Aregbesola contested for the House of Representatives and he lost. Aregbesola is the best loser of an election; he never won all local governments in Ijesa land as governor.
Olawumi continued, “APC narrowly escaped defeat in 2018 and after he has dissociated himself from APC since 2021. Aregbesola started campaigning against Tinubu in 2021; he shifted his allegiance to People’s Democratic Party and Governor Ademola Adeleke.
“The exit of Aregbesola and his cohort is goodbye to bad rubbish. We are not going to miss them, they are only traitors. Fasure was an aide to Oyetola for four years while he was serving Aregbesola.
“Aregbesola has been brought down. He has temperament, anger and a larger than life attitude. He is no longer relevant,” he claimed.
While some pundits have described Aregbesola as a “political orphan” presently as he has no political party to his name, others argued that his exit from the APC may not affect the electrifying street credibility he commands in Osun.
Notwithstanding, as the waiting persists for Aregbesola to declare the political party he is moving into since it is difficult for him to establish a new party before the forthcoming polls, analysts have said there lies an unpredictable political dynamic ahead in Osun and Nigeria at large. ...Read Full Article >>➤
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