Politics
Osun 2022: Aregbesola declares war against Tinubu, Oyetola, accuses them of betrayal
The crisis in the house of the ruling All Progressives Congress in Osun State over the control of the party’s leadership ahead of this year’s governorship election has deepened with the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, accusing the National Leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and the incumbent governor, Gboyega Oyetola, of betrayal
Aregbesola, who was governor of Osun State from 2010 to 2018 said he would work against the politics of godfatherism and enthronement by treacherous leaders in the state.
The minister said he trusted Tinubu but the ex-governor of Lagos State repaid him with betrayal.
Aregbesola alos accused Tinubu and a former APC interim chairman and ex-governor of Osun State, Bisi Akande, of imposing Oyetola on the people, against popular will.
Aregbesola, therefore, called on the party members in Osun to support a former Secretary to the State Government, Moshood Adeoti, in Saturday’s governorship primary.
He also said just as ex-governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode, was rejected by APC members in 2019 for working against the laid down rules, Oyetola would be thrown out of office after just a term.
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The minister, who declared that the present administration in the state had deviated from the true tenets of the APC, also accused those at the helms of affairs of jettisoning true democracy and the principles which the party and its heroes stand for.
The former governor spoke in the Ijebu Jesa area of the state while addressing members of the APC ahead of Saturday’s governorship primary election.
The aspirants warming up for the party primary include the incumbent governor, Oyetola; former Deputy Speaker of House of Representatives, Yusuff Lasun; and former Secretary to the State Government, Adeoti; who recently returned to the ruling APC in June 2020, from the Action Democratic Party.
Aregbesola and Tinubu had been decade-long political associates. The former was Director of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Campaign Organisation who drove the electoral victory of Bola Tinubu in 1999 and also ensured Tinubu’s return to office in 2003. Aregbesola was also Commissioner of Works and Infrastructure while Tinubu was Lagos governor.
Many keen observers had watched suspiciously the worsening relationship between Tinubu and Aregbesola. The minister was not seen visiting Tinubu in London when he was hospitalised for over three months for knee surgery and when over 100 notable politicians turned the APC leader’s London home to a Mecca of sorts in 2021. Also, Aregbesola has not been seen associating himself with the 2023 presidential ambition of Tinubu.
Aregbesola has been having a running tussle with Oyetola over what he termed poor leadership and over what appeared to be a struggle for the control of the APC organs in Osun State.
The PUNCH had earlier reported that the Governor Mai Mala Buni APC caretaker committee recently inaugurated Oyetola’s man, Gboyega Famoodun, as the recognised party chairman in Osun, and disregarded Aregbesola’s faction.
Aregbesola’s faction had pursued legal option to seek recognition as the authentic APC group in the state but the High Court of Osun State sitting at Ikire, presided over by Justice Sikiru Oke, recently, struck out a suit instituted by the group, The Osun Progressives – a group within the APC, in the state.
A similar suit by Aregbesola’s group in respect of the Ward Congress/Executives was struck out by the Federal High Court also in February 2022, for lack of jurisdiction.
Addressing APC members loyal to his faction on Monday in Ijebu Jesa in Osun, the minister said no man can terrify him, insisting that Oyetola won’t be reelected for a second term in office.
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Aregbesola said, “Only God can terrify us, not man. Go and tell them wherever they are, we own this party. We own this Afenifere group. We own this people-loving group started by our patriarchs — (Obafemi) Awolowo and Bola Ige. This is Elder Akande’s group before he temporarily left us. This is our party. Stop calling yourself a factional group; you are not a faction; you are the authentic APC.”
He thereafter launched a political song to drive home his point; Bye-bye to jagba-jagba, rede rede (nonsense).
The former governor also said, “We came back home to reposition our party to where it was meant to be because we followed the leading of our leader that we thought was a noble and reliable fellow. We followed him (Tinubu) dutifully with all sense of loyalty. 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 compare himself to God. God has no competitor; He is enough to be God.
“We built this party on perseverance as well as sweat and blood. We lost a lot of people in this struggle but eventually, we came into government on November 27, 2010. We were in government for eight years and governed according to the measure of God’s grace, everybody in Osun enjoyed our tenure.”
Aregbesola subsequently recounted how Tinubu imposed Oyetola as his successor in Osun in 2018.
“When he (Tinubu) will hand 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,” the minister protested.
Aregbesola also noted that if Tinubu and other APC members in Lagos had rejected Ambode, claiming he derailed from the original master plan, there was nothing wrong in dethroning Oyetola in Osun because he had derailed from the master plan too.
“That was how it was in Lagos at a time; a governor derailed and the party members unseated him using the ballot boxes. As it was in Lagos yesterday, so shall it be in Osun today. What is good for the goose is also good for the gander,” he said.
Politics
I broke the chains of godfatherism in Oyo politics – Makinde
I broke the chains of godfatherism in Oyo politics – Makinde
Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State says he has dismantle the shackles of godfatherism that once characterised the State politics.
Makinde said Oyo State was once known for ‘who is your father’ politics, stating that such style of political arrangement has ended with him.
Makinde spoke on Wednesday at Students’ Legislative Summit organised by the Speaker of Oyo State House of Assembly and chairman, Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria, Honourable Adebo Ogundoyin, in conjunction with the Students’ Representative Council, University of Ibadan.
Makinde disclosed that his father was not wealthy or influential and the Oyo State people still gave him the opportunity to lead.
The governor underscores the need to get youths into leadership position, imploring Nigerian youths to become more actively involved in governance by increasing their participation.
Makinde said that the issue of leadership is imperative in preparing the youth for the future and governance.
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“For us here, we have seen the common situation where ‘who is your father’ was the order of the day but we have been able to break that in Oyo State. My father was a ‘nobody’ and the Oyo State people still gave me the opportunity to lead.
“We may not be able to prepare the future for the youth, but we can prepare the youth for the future. Please, don’t see this event as just an opportunity to look at the issue of leadership in this country. And, in me, Seyi Makinde, the youth have an ally and we will prepare the leaders of the next generation amongst the youth.
“I am here this afternoon to encourage the youth. If you look at the history of Nigeria, we had our independence in 1960 and six years after, in 1966, the person that became the Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, was 31 years and some months old. After him, during the Second Republic, former President Obasanjo retired as a General at the age of 39.
“You should dream big; people have ruled this country at very tender ages. So, for you, don’t think that at 29 or 30, you are too young to rule and I am glad, because this is almost like catching them early.
“You have the students here and in about three years, some of you will be out there to move on. If I were you, I wouldn’t start looking for work; I would start doing my own thing at a very early age of 24 or 25. With the kind of energy you still have, you can pull down the kingdom of Satan.”
I broke the chains of godfatherism in Oyo politics – Makinde
Politics
Updated: Rivers crisis worsens as attorney-general, finance commissioner resign
Updated: Rivers crisis worsens as attorney-general, finance commissioner resign
The power tussle in Rivers State took a new turn on Wednesday as Commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General, Zacchaeus Adangor, resigned his appointment and as a member of the state executive council.
This is after the commissioner had rejected his redeployment by Governor Siminalayi Fubara as Commissioner for Special Duties.
Similarly, Isaac Kamalu has resigned as Commissioner of Finance after he was redeployed to the Employment Generation and Economic Empowerment Ministry by the governor.
Zacchaeus on 14 December first resigned his position as the Attorney-General of the state following the face-off between Governor Fubara and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
Zacchaeus and other commissioners who resigned due to the political crisis in the state, however, returned to the government after being reconfirmed by the state House of Assembly.
Fubara, earlier in the week, reshuffled his cabinet and redeployed Zacchaeus as the commissioner for Special Duties (Governor’s Office).
In a letter addressed to the Secretary to the Rivers State government, Zacchaeus rejected his new office.
In his resignation letter, he accused Governor Fubara of interfering with the performance of his duties as the state’s attorney general.
For Kamalu, who served as commissioner for Budget and Economics under former Governor Wike, he forwarded his resignation letter to Governor Fubura and the Secretary to the Government, Tammy Danagogo.
He accused Fubara of lying about the internally generated revenue of Rivers State.
Politics
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