‘Aregbesola Reveals Why He Boycotted Oyetola’s Re-Election Campaign, Speaks On Political Plan

A former Minister of Interior and ex-governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola, has hinted at a potential political move in Osun State by the end of 2024.

He conveyed this message to his supporters during a Thanksgiving event organized by the Omoluabi Caucus in Ilesa, Osun State.

The event, attended by many leaders of the group, featured Aregbesola’s speech, which was later shared on Facebook by Lekan Arogundade.

He reflected on the internal dynamics within the All Progressives Congress (APC) during the 2022 governorship election.

Aregbesola recounted his attempts to unify the APC for the 2022 governorship election and his negotiations with representatives of the party’s ‘overall leader’ on the distribution of appointments.

Despite these efforts, he mentioned that the ‘overall leader’ did not honour the agreements, leading him to abstain from the APC’s 2022 governorship campaign in Osun State.

This decision followed a statement from a campaign organization leader advising uninvited members not to attend the campaign.

Speaking in Yoruba language, Aregbesola further said, “I have not said this before. On August 26, 2021, our overall leader told us to meet two of his representatives in Abuja.

“Thirty-one people from my group met with the representatives of our overall leader. The meeting started around 10 pm and ended at about 4 a.m. I was not part of the meeting. But they agreed that those pushed out of the party should be reintegrated.

“Those at the meeting also agreed that those in government then were more, and because of that, in both appointive and elective posts that were still vacant, they should give our own side one-third while they take two-thirds.

“The representative of our overall boss was impressed. I told him whatever my people had told them, I agreed to it. But I gave them some conditions that I will not reveal now if they want me to come and campaign during the governorship election. But we never heard anything again about that agreement to date.

“The leader of their governorship campaign said on OSBC that anybody who was not invited should not come for the campaign. So, I had to stay away. No true Yoruba man would hear such a declaration and will still go to where he was not invited.

“They didn’t stop at that. They went on a campaign of calumny against me. It was after they failed that they started looking for where to lay the blame. They are shameless.

“They ate their words. By their second year in office, they said it was because they were relating to me that made them not win on the first ballot during the (2018 governorship) election. In November 2020, they said we had Ebola (to avoid a relationship with us). They said we didn’t pay workers’ salaries and pensions. I wanted to come for the second anniversary (of Oyetola in office), but we were told people didn’t want to see us.”

Speaking on his plans regarding politics in the state, he said, “We are unperturbed. God will judge each one of us on the role we play in the matter. I deliberately speak about it today because people are just muddling up issues. But by the grace of God, by this time in 2024, you will know where we are heading. It will be clear to everyone where Osun people are heading.”