Aregbesola, Oyetola Feud Set To Derail APC Ahead Osun 2022
By Akinwunmi King
The continued hostility between the governor of Osun State, Gboyega Oyetola, and his predecessor, Rauf Aregbesola, has become a source of concern for many stakeholders in the state, especially those in the All Progressives Congress (APC), with the fear that the issue may affect the chances of the ruling party in the governorship election which has been fixed for July 16, 2022.
To many in Osun State, it is baffling that both Aregbesola and Oyetola who worked together for eight years could fall out so soon. Oyetola was Aregbesola’s Chief of Staff and people believed that they must have worked together within that period with great understanding of each other.
Sudden Emergence Of A Gulf
Less than a year after Oyetola got into office, the frosty relationship between them began to rear its head when it was alleged that Oyetola rebuffed his former boss who wanted to pocket him in the running of the affairs of the state.
It was insinuated that Oyetola rejected the lists of political appointees which Aregbesola allegedly handed over to him and went ahead to pick his own team, an allegation which Aregbesola debunked.
It is no longer news that Oyetola is doing everything possible to secure a second term in office. For many observers in the state, the only visible and existing opposition to the re-election bid of the governor can only be seen among a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) domiciled in Ede, and some aggrieved members of the APC who are unsure of supporting his reelection.
But for the ordinary people of the state, particularly the civil servants, pensioners and the likes, who have always played strategic roles in Osun elections, Governor Oyetola’s popularity has been on the increase.
The present status of Osun APC suggests that the party has been divided into two factions – there is the governor’s Ileri-Oluwa and there is the recently formed The Osun Progressives (TOP), which is now a lingo in Osun political idiom to describe APC members who are against Oyetola’s re-election.
Recently the TOP leader, Elder Lọwọ Adebiyi, issued a press release prior to the just concluded ward congress, in which he claimed that the group had no faith in the ward congresses in the state and that the idea of consensus candidate could not have a place in Osun.
There have been allegations that Aregbesola recently made a move to mend fences with those he once fought, like Fatai Diekola, Alhaji Moshood Adeoti, and some other PDP leaders in an attempt to float a third-force in Osun to wrest power from Oyetola in 2022.
Erasing Aregbesola’s Footprints
Before now, Oyetola had engaged in some decisive actions, which include reversing some of the policies put in place by Aregbesola, and while some stakeholders, especially the poor people of Osun State who have been most affected by government’s actions in the state, applauded the decision of Oyetola’s administration to reverse most of Aregbesola’s education policies, supporters and loyalists of the former governor, who is now the Minister of Interior, felt it was part of the grand plot to wipe out Aregbesola’s image in the state.
Aregbesola’s loyalists hold the notion that the policies were reversed not because they had failed to achieve desired results as claimed by Oyetola’s government, but as part of the premeditated agenda to gradually erode the former governor’s legacies.
The public outcry against some of the policies which erased the histories and traditions of many schools in the state notwithstanding, some in the camp of the former governor wholeheartedly believed the policies had served the state well and were indeed unique and uncommon as the style of their promoter.
Before Governor Oyetola stopped schools’ reclassification, merger of schools, as well as single uniform for all public schools, among others, it was obvious that some of the policies would give way, after the Professor Olu Aina-led review committee submitted its report to Oyetola.
Oyetola had, through his Commissioner for Information and Civic Engagement, Mrs Funke Egbemode, explained that the government unanimously agreed that nine of Aregbesola’s policies should be reversed immediately.
She had said: “Opon Imo, the only policy that survived the review, would be repackaged and reintroduced to schools.”
According to Egbemode, “The decision was reached after an exhaustive deliberation on the report of the education panel set up by the governor to review some of the extant education practices and policies. The council unanimously agreed on the 10 issues raised in the report and accepted the recommendations.
“The council approved the recommendations to revert to the 6-3-3-4 structure in keeping with the provision of the National Policy on Education as this will entail adequate physical and instructional facilities at all levels, adequate provision in quantity and quality of well-motivated teachers at all levels.”
The Commissioner further stated that the council, following the recommendation of the Aina panel, which was made up of seasoned educationists, chose to accede to the yearnings of the people on the schools by allowing “every school return to its old established and recognised public uniform,” adding that even the company set up by the previous government to service the state education sector was adjudged to have performed below expectation.
She added: “The council observed that the Omoluabi Education Services Limited is not performing the duties, roles and obligations expected and it was approved that the operation of Omoluabi Education Services Limited be wound up since it has not been fulfilling the mandates for which it was established.
“It was also agreed that Early Childhood Care Development Education (ECCDE) in line with the practice in the 35 other states in Nigeria be restored.”
Sanitizing Educational Sector
Some other contentious policies on education were also touched by the Oyetola government in the bid to restore sanity to a sector that had consistently performed poorly, oscillating between 25th and 30th positions in the West African Examination Council (WAEC) performance index for states from 2015 to 2018 and even before then.
Other such decisions reached were the reversal of schools to their former status, whereby only single sex identified with those school names should be admitted while students already affected by the name change should be issued letter of attestation by the Ministry of Education and male students who are currently in SS1 and SS2 in schools established for female learners only should be relocated immediately and vice-versa.
To allay the fear of the Aregbesola support group, the government had made it clear that it was not targeting anyone and that the interest of the people of Osun was paramount to it.
Addressing the press on the reversed policies, the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to Oyetola, Ismail Omipidan, had earlier pleaded with newsmen to desist from presenting the development as an action aimed at the former governor. He explained that it was a decision taken in consideration of people’s demands, supported and backed by the recommendations of experts who had at one time or another superintended over the nation’s as well as international education development.
But one of Aregbesola’s close aides in a radio programme had defended his erstwhile boss’s decisions, especially those formulated for and implemented in the education sector. Kolapo Alimi, a lawyer and Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs in the Aregbesola government, during a live radio programme, said Aregbesola’s education policies were well-thought-out by experts such as Professor Wole Soyinka and other critical stakeholders before they were introduced in 2012.
He said: “We introduced those uniforms in 2012 and had an election in 2014, the parents of the poor students were the ones who voted for Aregbesola and we led by over 100, 000 votes. But most of the people castigating this single uniform policy are the ones that will not send their children to those schools.”
This present situation in the state has shown clearly that Oyetola and Aregbesola are no longer on the same page in the party. It is glaring, too, that the two groups would work at variance during the primaries to pick the candidate that would represent the party in the coming governorship election.
While those in Aregbesola’s group, according to sources, have resolved to present a different aspirant for the election, the group loyal to Oyetola headed by the Caretaker Chairman of the party, Gboyega Famodun, with some leaders in the local governments of the state, recently endorsed Oyetola for a second term.
It was however clear that Famodu’s camp with his present position would want to ensure that Oyetola gets the ticket of the party for a second term.
The Aregbesola’s group, according to an inside source, is determined to scuttle that, as they now have a very strong outlet in all the 30 local government areas of the state to prevent that, even if Famodun is determined to use his influence as the chairman.
Forming New Alliances
Apart from the issue of the reversal of Aregbesola’s educational policies, we gathered that there were several other issues which have caused disagreement between the duo, but the major ones, according to several reports, centered on the marginalisation of loyalists of Aregbesola in Oyetola’s government, as none of them was offered a position, either in his cabinet or in any of the boards and parastatals, changing of the name of the state from the State of Osun to its former name Osun State.
It was also alleged that Oyetola did not support the ministerial appointment of Aregbesola but wanted Iyiola Omisore to compensate him for helping to win the rerun of the election that gave him final victory. Aregbesola is also said not to have welcomed the idea of Omisore coming to the APC and that was why he lambasted him for dancing on the grave of Bola Ige when he (Omisore) joined the APC.
Aregbesola, referring to his successor, pointed out that some people calling themselves progressives are teaming up with murderers, since he still believed that Omisore was behind the killing of Bola Ige, despite the fact that the Court exonerated him.
Despite the fact that both Aregbesola and Oyetola in public pretend that they are still together, the latest developments indicate that they are arch enemies, as they are only trying to manage and control themselves for the mere fact that both are product of the same political family and mentor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
Oyetola is Tinibu’s first cousin while Aregbesola has been the arrowhead of Tinubu’s political machinery in Lagos and his commissioner for works while he (Tinubu) was in office as the Lagos State governor for eight years.
Working At Cross-Purposes
Since the past two years, the supporters of the duo have been throwing gibes at one another and engaging in serious combat at any slightest opportunity or provocation when they meet at party functions, and it got to a stage that both decided not to be at the same party functions at the same time.
It has even been observed that Aregbesola has been fixing his political outings outside Osogbo, the state capital, as a source said he was doing that to avoid bloodshed which has been happening in the past whenever the two groups meet.
However, the recently held ward congress was the litmus test for the two warring groups. While the governor used his national party influence to midwife the consensus candidate arrangement, Aregbesola’s faction was able to conduct election in the wards where they are strong across the state.
Before the ward congress, TOP, in one of its statements signed by Adelowo Adebiyi, accused the chairman of the Osun Ward Congress Committee, Hon. Gbenga Elegbeleye, who is a member of Oyetola’s camp, of working towards an end.
Adebiyi said: “From the time he was appointed, we knew there was no way the APC Ward Congresses Committee in Osun, headed by Hon. Gbenga Elegbeleye, could have been fair.
“This is because we have it on good authority that Elegbeleye was nominated by Omisore, who has been working to hijack the party structure like he did to PDP and SDP in the past.”
Reacting to the outcome of the ward congress, Adebiyi rejected the result, saying they also conducted valid congresses as directed by the national secretariat.
But the director, Bureau of Research, Communication and Strategy, Barr. Kunle Oyatomi, debunked the allegations and urged TOP to toe the path of honour by speaking the truth.
However, to resolve the issue generated by the congress, an appeal panel headed by Ambassador Obed Wardzain was set up by the party national secretariat to look into petitions filed by aggrieved APC members in the state.
Wadzain, on arrival in Osun, said: “We are also members of the APC. We have come from the national headquarters, Abuja, to specifically come and look at the appeals and petitions from members of the APC in Osun State.
“We have come to assure you that we are all members of the same family. All of you have contributed to the building and consolidation and strengthening of the party. All of you are leaders of this party in your respective local governments, wards and units. We are here to assure you that we will be fair, just, and we will look at the petitions that you bring to us with all the sense of responsibility that is expected of the national level.
“We want to tell you as you are already aware that your election is coming up next year and we have to make sure that this family remains one so that we will be able to win the election.”
Subsequently, the Appeal Committee claimed that they received 32 petitions and promised to attend to all the petitions.
But all hell was let loose at the state secretariat, venue of the appeal panel sitting, when some unidentified persons came to disrupt the proceedings. There were accusations and counter accusations by the two factions over the identity of the thugs and those who sponsored them.
While chairman of the appeal panel, Wadzain, said his team attended to all the petitioners, TOP said that was far from the truth.
Another Showdown Ahead LG Congress
As APC prepares for the local government congress, all eyes will be on Osun as the battle between the camps intensifies ahead of the 2022 governorship election in the State of the Virtuous.
July 2022 is edging closer and the alleged Aregbesola-Oyetola beef is becoming hotter. Although Oyetola has not publicly and formally declared his intention to occupy the Oke-Fia Government House beyond 2022, the body language of the governor and those of his allies suggests that he is interested in a second term. Also, the governor’s loyalists and supporters have been canvassing for his return in 2022.
As part of the subtle campaigns of Oyetola towards his second term ambition, the Office of the Special Adviser to the Governor on Civic Engagement has been meeting with traditional rulers, politicians, community leaders and residents of the state in what it has tagged, “Governor’s Family Meeting”.
At these meetings currently ongoing across the state, attendants have been showering encomiums on Oyetola and praying that his second term dream would come true. At these meetings, Oyetola’s Commissioners and other aides had been calling for the people of the state to support their principal.
Sources within the party and state government said Omisore’s defection to the APC was part of the strategies of Oyetola to win Osun East in the forthcoming poll.
There are claims that the Aregbesola camp is not relaxing in ensuring that Oyetola does not last beyond 2022 in the Government House. Sources said the minister would settle scores with the governor by working against his second term ambition.
Aregbesola’s foot soldiers and campaign groups have been mobilising and engaging with key stakeholders in the state, especially those who have lost touch with the governance style of Oyetola. One of these groups is Oranmiyan, a socio-political group in the state. Some civil society organisations and market women are said to have pitched tents with the Aregbesola camp in order to dislodge Oyetola next year.
From all indications, the battle for the soul of Osun has begun. All eyes are on the forthcoming gubernatorial poll to see who wins or loses in the unfolding high drama and intrigues.
Meanwhile, Oyetola has continually maintained that there is no “real quarrel” within the ruling APC in the state, and expressed hope that he would be re-elected for another term.
Oyetola, who spoke with newsmen in his Iragbiji residence last month, was asked if he could win another term in 2022 with the current crisis in the ruling party. And in response, the governor said there were ongoing efforts to reach out to those that had disagreement basically on principles with his administration.
“Election winners are determined by performance or ratings by people but, most importantly, God determines winners of election. If God ordains it and people will determine the next governor. There is no real quarrel in APC. What we have is basically disagreement on principles.”
Source: Sunday Independent
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