From Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
Two foremost Yoruba monarchs, the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III, and the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi, have waded into the lingering strained relationship between Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, and the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, with a view to brokering peace between them.
The two first-class kings held a private meeting with Aregbesola at the residence of Alaafin, at Jericho, Ibadan, in Oyo State on Tuesday.
Though details of the meeting were still sketchy at the time of filing this report, sources said the meeting lasted for two hours.
Aregbesola had served as Commissioner for Works under Tinubu when the latter was the governor of Lagos State between 1999 and 2007. With the help of Tinubu, Aregbesola also served as governor for two terms of eight years in Osun State.
But the cracked wall between Tinubu and Aregbesola began to show in 2018. It was over who should serve as Osun State governor after Aregbesola. Tinubu reportedly supported the incumbent governor, Gboyega Oyetola, while Aregbesola was said to have supported another contestant before he was prevailed upon to support Oyetola.
But the strained relationship became well pronounced in February 2022 prior to the governorship primary of APC. Aregbesola was quoted to have denigrated Tinubu when he was addressing some political allies in Ilesha, as he purportedly supported another governorship aspirant during the primary. But the sitting governor, Oyetola won the primary election.
The meeting held in Ibadan on Tuesday was described as a first step towards reconciling Tinubu and Aregbesola. The second step, as gathered, would be that both Ooni and Alaafin would meet Tinubu privately, while the third step would be that the two monarchs would bring both Tinubu and Aregbesola together. But dates have not been fixed for the second and the third steps.
When contacted, the Media Adviser to the Minister of Interior, Mr Sola Fasure, confirmed that Oba Adeyemi and Oba Ogunwusi held the private meeting with Aregbesola on Tuesday in Ibadan, saying: It is true that Aregbesola held a meeting with the Ooni of Ife and Alaafin today (Tuesday) in Ibadan. It was a private meeting and I was not there. So, I don’t know what they discussed. But I can tell you that Ogbeni held a meeting with the two foremost traditional rulers in Ibadan. It was a private meeting.’