Humiiated In Osun, Rejected In Lagos, Will Aregbesola Return To Tinubu’s Camp?

Prior to now, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, former Osun state governor was one of the most trusted ally of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the national leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). According to credible sources, their relationship started over 30 years ago even before Tinubu was elected governor. It began in the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP) under whose platform Tinubu was elected a senator of the botched Third Republic.

Following the return of democratic governance in 1999, Tinubu contested for the governorship election under the platform of the defunct Alliance for Democracy (APC). Aregbesola was Director of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Campaign Organisation (BATCO), and he performed a similar feat with the platform of the Independent Campaign Group, with which he ensured the re-election of Tinubu for a second term in office. Tinubu also rewarded him with appointment as Commissioner for Works for eight years, a very strategic portfolio. He was also the leader of the Mandate Group, a group made up of Tinubu’s core loyalists.

In 2007, Aregbesola headed to his home state of Osun, where he contested the governorship election against the then incumbent governor, Olagunsoye Oyinlola who was seeking reelection. Even though the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), declared Oyinlola the winner, Aregbesola, who was heavily backed by Tinubu challenged the outcome and sought legal redress. He got victory in November 25, 2010.

Trouble however started in 2018 after Aregbesola concluded his eight years and wanted to have a successor. Even though he had another candidate in mind, Tinubu implored him to choose his cousin, Gboyega Oyetola, who also served as Aregbesola’s Chief of Staff. Tinubu promised that Oyetola will consolidate on Aregbesola’s legacies in office.

After assuming office, Oyetola embarked on some policies which Aregbesola felt were targeted at him, ostensibly to erase his legacies. He also felt many of his loyalists were sidelined by the governor. The rift between the duo led to the formation of two parallel factions – Ileri Oluwa group which Oyetola’s camp belong and The Osun Progressives (TOP) led by Aregbesola.

Events took a worse turn when Aregbesola while speaking in Oriade LGA of Osun last month on the Osun APC governorship primary denigrated Tinubu and accused him of playing god. His grouse was that Tinubu said nothing when Oyetola was erasing his legacies in the state. He also rejected Oyetola, promising to ensure he does not return for second term in office.

He said ““We followed him (Tinubu) dutifully with all sense of loyalty,” Aregbesola said. “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 compared himself to God.”

“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”.

Aregbesola’s camp lost the APC governorship primary to Oyetola. APC supporters in Alimosho who were piqued by his comments on Tinubu also carried his mock coffin saying his political life is dead in Lagos.

Defeated in Osun and rejected in Lagos, Aregbesola reportedly reached out to some prominent traditional rulers to help him appease Tinubu. Last week, he had a meeting with the Ooni of Ife and Alaafin of Oyo in what was described as the first step in the peace meeting.

Speaking on the peace move, Olawale Olaeye, a journalist and public affairs analyst, described it as exercise in futility.

He said “I just learnt that, truly, some Yoruba leaders and traditional rulers are in the process of brokering truce between Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola. Although the move had been on for some time, especially, immediately after Aregbesola’s needless outburst weeks ago, it appears concrete steps are now being taken.

“But I think it’s too late and an effort in futility. That disagreement is beyond rapprochement. Aregbesola crossed the line of decency. He let his anger excessive breather without any form of circumspection. I’m not a pessimist but whatever these Yoruba leaders are doing is not only going to be cosmetic but fleeting. It can never be the same again. There’s a scar that wouldn’t disappear ever again”.

“Kudos to those behind the initiative but they should not end up with any disappointment that their effort did not yield desired result. In this very matter, Trust is broken. Love is poisoned. Friendship is gone and for good. What they have left is the assumption that their paths once crossed.

“Nonetheless, this said effort at reconciliation can achieve one thing, perhaps, there would never be any open attacks from either of the camps. That’s the only thing I see happening. But to hope that things would return to what they used to be, not in this life again. Forget politics, it is never going to happen, because Aregbesola didn’t leave room for reconciliation, let alone build safety into his assumptions.

“He was too bitter, arrogant and blinded to see the big picture. He totally forgot where he was coming from. He murdered a friendship that many would kill to have. It’s too late to genuinely mend fences. Fact!”.

Also speaking, The League of South West Civil Society and Community Based Organisations also advocated reconciliation between the two APC leaders, saying that there is no dispute that cannot be settled.

At a press conference in Lagos, the spokesman for the League, Taiwo Adeleye, said the face off between the duo is not in the interest of either of the two, adding that the crisis is a dispute that ‘can set the entire South West on the path to internal combustion’.

He added that the Asiwaju Tinubu had on many occasions commended Aregbesola for being “an honest, upright, dutiful and diligent fighter,” noting thag Aregbesola remains a source of pride to Asiwaju Tinubu.

He said, “We do not belong to the school that thinks the crisis must linger. It is an ill wind that blows no one any good. We recognize the strength, potentials, opportunities and weaknesses of both actors and strongly believe that as humans, none of them is perfect.

“That the crisis has continued to blossom is a weakness on the part of the two and a show of lack of capacity to manage dispute on the part of all of us. In politics, disagreements are normal. When such disputes are nipped in the bud, it is for the benefit of all, including the society on whose behalf both actors contend.”

He therefore stated that the civil society, grass roots organizations and community based groups across Yoruba territories will set up a committee that will explore the potentials of reconciling the two personalities”.

Also, The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) said the rift between the duo, had become a major embarrassment to Muslim leaders in the South West, may affect Tinubu’s presidential ambition in 2023.

Prof. Ishaq Akintola, director of the organisation said the face-off “is likely to affect the fortunes of both Aregbesola and Oyetola in the coming gubernatorial election in Osun State this year although they may not acknowledge this fact now as both gladiators are still grandstanding.

“It is also likely to ricochet on the rumoured presidential ambition of their principal, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. A divided camp cannot fight on one front. Neither can it speak with one voice.”

He called Aregbesola and Oyetola’s attention to the hadith of Prophet Muhammad that two Muslims should not engage in a quarrel beyond three days. “The one who first extends greetings to the other is the better Muslim.”

-Credit: the Independent.