The die is cast in the Osun state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the party will tomorrow elect its governorship candidate for the July 16, governorship election.
The incumbent governor, Gboyega Oyetola, who was first elected four years ago in 2018 is seeking reelection on the platform of the APC. However, aside the threat from the major opposition party in the state, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who gave him a tough time in 2018, Oyetola is also facing a stiffer battle from APC members, led by his predecessor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, the current Minister of Interior who has vowed to ensure he will not last in office as governor beyond 2022.
In fact, Aregbesola who has endorsed Moshood Adeoti, a former Secretary to the State Government as his preferred candidate in tomorrow’s governorship primary has promised to give Oyetola the ‘Ambode treatment’, the slogan for the treatment meted to former Lagos state governor, Akinwunmi Ambode who was denied an opportunity to return for another term in 2019 by APC leaders, led by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
Speaking while addressing members of the APC in Ijebu Ijesa area of the state, Aregbesola who accused Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, APC national leader of foisting Oyetola on him as successor in 2018, also accused the incumbent governor of not consolidating on his eight-year achievements but doing everything to rubbish it.
His words “We took over government on November 27, 2010 and by 28th, we announced that whoever sought revenge would be struck down by God. We only handed over to God, those who made us suffer. After we served for eight years, it wasn’t only party members that benefitted from our administration, the entire state did. I went everywhere in Osun with projects”.
“However, by the time my successor was handed over to me around May or July 2018, I was told, ‘Rauf, this is the ideal successor that would stand by you. He would further showcase your efforts. He would not betray you; he would not dim the light of your glory’. That was what the person, who handed him over to me said. If the person is listening to me, it would resonate with him, if he said so or not”.
“But, did he do as he was vouched for? And when he reneged on these promises, did the person, who handed him over to me draw his attention to these failings? Anyway, isn’t the person the one we now see today?”.
“This happened in Lagos recently. There was a governor, who wanted to seek re-election and the party declined and showed him the way out with their votes. So, the same way it was in Lagos then, is exactly the way it is in Osun today. What is good for the goose, is also good for the gander. It cannot be the turn of your younger brother now and you change the rules.”
However, in a statement, Ismail Omipidan, the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the governor said his principal has absolute trust in God and the people of Osun state and not in Aregbesola who is trying to play God.
He added that contrary to Aregbesola’s statement that Oyetola rubbished his legacies, the governor had improved on what he met on ground and done much more to the admiration of the people of the state who are clamouring for him to return for another term.
The statement reads: “The general belief among most Africans that “a man’s life is preordained and ruled by God” has continued to play out in the political trajectory of Governor Adegboyega Oyetola of Osun”.
“From 2011 when he was appointed Chief of Staff to 2018 when, against all odds, he emerged, first as the candidate of the APC, and later, Governor of the State, at a time when many thought it was all over for him, it was obvious that he was on a divine political course”.
“My Principal has absolute faith in God and the people of Osun. In these last three years plus, the people can tell the difference in terms of responsible and responsive governance and politics”.
“Before we came in, Osun West was literally neglected in terms of infrastructure. But since we came in, we have done roads that had been abandoned for close to 20 years in that district. This, perhaps, explains why leaders and critical stakeholders from the area are already appealing to themselves to allow Oyetola take another shot at the governorship for the second term”.
“Just about a week ago, the Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdulrosheed Akanbi, charged the people of the town to vote for incumbent Governor Adegboyega Oyetola”.
“Oluwo, who advised his subjects not to waste their resources and energy working against the re-election bid of the governor, said only those who are not interested in the growth and development of the town in particular and Osun State, in general, would want to run against Oyetola”.
“The Royal Father said by the special Grace of God and the support of the people of Osun, Oyetola will be re-elected to consolidate the achievements he has so far recorded. Now, Aregbesola’s anointed candidate is from Iwo. So, you be the judge”.
“As the 2022 governorship contest draws closer like the saying goes, there is no point comparing the sun with the moon, both shine when it is their time. For now, it’s Oyetola’s sun that is shining by the permission and Grace of God and the power of the people of Osun. And as the majority are already saying, this sun will shine beyond 2022”.
“Therefore, it is God and Osun people that will determine Oyetola’s fate, not an individual trying to play to God”.
Political analysts are watching the primary with keen interests because events in the party shows that the APC is firmly in the governor’s hands. The Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) of the APC which Oyetola is part of, currently recognises Prince Gboyega Famodun, who belongs to Oyetola’s Ileri Oluwa group as the authentic state chairman of the party even though Razak Salinsile, the factional state chairman of Aregbesola’s ‘The Osun Progressives’ (TOP) still parades himself as the chairman.
Also, with endorsements for Oyetola from prominent traditional rulers, members of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), civil servants and pensioners and many others, it remains to be seen how Aregbesola who still enjoys some measures of ‘street credibility’ in Osun will inflict the Ambode treatment on the governor who once served as his Chief of Staff.
-TEMIDAYO AKINSUYI
