From Bamigbola Gbolagunte, Osogbo
With less than seven months to the next governorship election in Osun State, all is not well with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Things appear to have fallen apart and the party is literally in disarray.
For followers of events in the state, there appears to be no end in sight for the internal wrangling rocking the party as all efforts to settle the internal rift have hit the rocks.
The leadership of the APC at the national level recently set up a reconciliation committee headed by former Governor of Nasarawa State and serving senator, Abdulahi Adamu which met with members of the two factions of the party in the state. Despite the efforts of the committee, not much seems to have been achieved even though the report of the reconciliation meeting has not been made public.
While the state governor, Mr Gboyega Oyetola leads a faction of the party known as Ileri Oluwa caucus, former governor of the state and current Minister of Interior, Mr Rauf Aregbesola is said to be the leader of another faction known as “The Osun Progressives (TOP)”.
Aregbesola had during the launch of the National Digital Centre (NDC) in Ilesa, his home town publicly announced his loyalty to TOP and announced that he belonged to a faction of the party led by Razaq Saleinsile. Saleinsile had emerged factional chairman of the APC at a parallel congress held by the Aregbesola’s faction of the party, while Prince Gboyega Famodun emerged the chairman of the faction loyal to Governor Oyetola.
The emergence of the two chairmen at different congresses of the party was the climax of the internal crisis within the party as both Oyetola and Aregbesola had been nursing animosity against each other since his (Oyetola) emergence as the governor. Oyetola had served as the Chief of Staff to Aregbesola when he held sway as the governor of the state and it was not clear whether the two political gladiators had differences even when they worked closely together.
However, the crisis of confidence between them started in the party shortly after Aregbesola was appointed the Minister of Interior by President Muhammadu Buhari and the birth of TOP also signalled a major challenge for the party. While members of TOP, a caucus within the APC are die hard loyalists of Aregbesola especially those who served under his administration as either Commissioners or Special Advisers, the Ileri Oluwa caucus is made up of loyalists of Governor Oyetola who are majorly those currently holding political positions at both the state and local government levels.
Daily Sun investigation observed that the national secretariat of the party, especially the National Working Committee and Extra Ordinary National Convention Committee where Oyetola is also a member gives more recognition to the faction loyal to the governor as the officials of the party attended the state congress held by the his faction instead of that of his predecessor. But the other faction also claimed to be in control of the party, having instituted a legal action against the Oyetola’s faction regarding the congress held recently. The case is currently pending before the Federal High Court, Osogbo.
It was learnt that the former National Chairman of the party, Chief Bisi Akande, former Lagos State Governor and national leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu among other top leaders of the party had made frantic efforts to settle the rift but to no avail.
Some of the prominent members of the Aregbesola faction of the party include former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Lasun Yusuf, former Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Najeem Salam and former Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Moshood Adeoti. The trio who are all nursing governorship ambitions had publicly announced their loyalty to Aregbesola.
While Oyetola who had already obtained his governorship nomination form through some of his political associates is the only aspirant in his faction, the trio of Salam, Adeoti and Yusuf are all interested in the governorship race in the Aregbesola’s camp and it was not certain if Aregbesola has special interest in any of the three aspirants.
Recently, the three aspirants loyal to Aregbesola met at the Oranmiyan house which was the campaign office of Aregbesola and agreed to ensure that their faction presents a governorship candidate of the APC in the July election.
But, the chairman-elect of the party in the Oyetola’s faction, Prince Famodun blamed Aregbesola for the crisis the party is experiencing in the state, claiming that the open confession of the Interior Minister that he’s behind the activities of his faction was an indication that he remained the cause of the crisis rocking the party in the state.
Famodun who spoke through his media consultant, Mr Kola Olabisi insisted that there is only one APC in the state and the governor is the automatic leader of the party as provided its constitution and therefore called on warring members to return to the main fold in the interest of peace, unity and progress of the party.
He said the Aregbesola’s faction otherwise known as TOP has no interest of the party at heart and only crying wolf where there is none, adding that the group had met with the reconciliation committee set up by the national party but its demands were unrealistic.
It was gathered that the Aregbesola’s faction had as part of its demands for peace to reign in the party asked for the resignation of Governor Oyetola from the National Working Committee and also called for the cancellation of the results of the last state congress.
The Secretary of the Aregbesola’s faction of the party, Mr Adelani Baderinwa said the stakeholders, many of who are also founding fathers of the party belong to the faction, saying that only those who are benefiting from the present administration, especially serving political office holders are with Oyetola.
Baderinwa who was Commissioner for Information and Strategy during the second term of Aregbesola said the faction has in all its activities, followed the party’s constitution, adding that the congress held by the faction which produced officers of the party was in accordance with the constitution of the APC.
He alleged that those loyal to Aregbesola were sidelined by Governor Oyetola in the running of his administration, a situation which he said, pissed them off, saying that all the policies and programmes executed by Aregbesola have been changed by the current administration.
Some of the policies of Aregbesola reversed by our correspondent include the wearing of common school uniforms, nomenclature of schools and school authorities among others.
But the state government claimed that the change of education policies introduced by the Aregbesola’s administration was as a result of the outcome of an education summit attended by renowned academics from within and outside the state, adding that a think-thank committee made up of academics including Prof. Olu Aina also recommended that the school policies should change.
The chairman of TOP. Rev Adelowo Adebiyi in his reaction said the Aregbesola’s faction parades an array of committed and trusted politicians worth their salt and thereby reiterated that the faction is in control of the soul of the party.
Adebiyi said with the likes of Adeoti, Salam and Yusuf who had already signified their intentions to contest the governorship election under the faction, the Aregbesola’s group was fully incharge of the party, adding that “some opportunists are out to destroy the house we built but we won’t allow them to do that. APC belongs to all of us and we shall remain in this party together. We have suffered in this party. Many of us have suffered attack and intimidation.”
He denied the insinuation that the faction may work for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during the governorship election, alleging that members of the Oyetola faction are behind the rumour as it never occurred to any member to either leave or work for another political platform other than the APC.
However, Oyetola’s faction maintain that the trio of Adeoti, Salam and Yusuf are no threat to the second term ambition of Governor Oyetola as he has the support of most of the card carrying members of the APC and the generality of the people of the state. Members of the faction believe that many interest groups including the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) had already endorsed the second term of the governor.
The chairman of Oyetola’s faction, Famodun insisted that Oyetola remained the choice of the leaders and members of the party including the masses of the state because of his tremendous developmental achievements in the last three and half years.
But in all of these, the issue of zoning appears a major challenge for Oyetola as many residents of the state believe it’s the turn of Osun West senatorial district to produce the next governor of the state.
The clamour for zoning of the governorship position was a major issue in the prelude to the 2018 governorship election and it was upon that basis that the former Secretary to the State Government, Moshood Adeoti defected to the Advanced Democratic Party (ADP) under which platform he contested the governorship election
Adeoti who hails from Iwo in Osun West senatorial district left the APC after Oyetola had emerged the party’s flag bearer through a direct primary system. He thereafter contested against Oyetola who eventually won the election.
The clamour for zoning of the governorship position has again rented the air as many people, especially those from the West senatorial district believe that they are being cheated as the zone only produced the governor once since its creation in August 1991.
Except for the first civilian governor of the state, Alhaji Isiaka Adeleke who was from Ede in Osun West senatorial district, no other civilian governor from the zone had ever ruled the state. At the return of democracy in 1999, Chief Bisi Akande from Ila-Orangun in Osun Central senatorial district ruled from 1999 to 2003. He was succeeded by Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola who hails from Okuku, headquarters of Odo-otin Local Government Area in Osun Central senatorial district and led from 2003 to November, 2010. After Oyinlola was Mr Rauf Aregbesola, an indigene of Ilesa in Osun East senatorial district who governed the state between 2010 and 2018. Aregbesola was succeeded by the incumbent governor, Gboyega Oyetola from Iragbiji, headquarters of Boripe Local Government Area of the state also in Osun Central.
However, in the Aregbesola’s faction of the party, two of the governorship aspirants; Najeem Salam and Moshood Adeoti are from Osun West senatorial district. This, analysts said was a calculated attempt to yield to the clamour for zoning, believing that it would win the support of people of the senatorial district. While Salam hails from Ejigbo, Adeoti is from Iwo, both in Osun West senatorial district; Yusuf is from Ilobu in Osun Central senatorial district but recently claimed that his ancestral home is in Woru in Egbedore Local Government Area which is also in Osun West senatorial district. However, it’s on record that Yusuf has always used Ilobu to contest in all the elections that he had participated in including the 2018 gubernatorial primary election of the APC.
Although Oyetola’s faction has settled for the governor in the coming election, Aregbesola’s faction is yet to announce its candidate.
But Daily Sun investigations revealed that the residents of the state are waiting anxiously to see what will become of the party before its primary election slated for March, 2022 and the general election holding in July. Meanwhile, the opposition political parties, especially the PDP is also watching keenly how events unfold in the party and to take advantage.
