Osun APC Crisis: Adeoti, Salaam Reject Tinubu’s Invitation - Why There’s Disagreement On Reconciliation Term

There seems to be no end in sight on the crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the State of Osun, few months to the July 16, 2022 governorship election in the state. One of the last straws that some people had believed would break the camel’s back of the crisis is the intervention of the National Leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. The Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola is a political son and one of the staunch loyalists of Tinubu, while Governor Adegboyega Oyetola is his cousin. Until events started unfolding, it was believed that both Aregbesola and Oyetola would answer Tinubu’s call anytime and the crisis would be resolved the moment he intervenes. But the hope of getting the crisis resolved from Tinubu’s end is gradually getting dashed. Investigations by us revealed that the three political gladiators in the APC, former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon LasunYussuff, former Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Moshood Adeoti and former Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Najeem Salaam, have resolved not to backdown on their ‘rescue mission’ for the APC. It was gathered that Adeoti and Salaam last week turned down an invitation to Lagos by Tinubu.

The invitation which was conveyed to the two politicians by Nigeria’s Ambassador to Mexico, Hon. Adejare Bello, was aimed at talking to the APC chieftains to drop their ‘Osun West’ agenda and their governorship ambition to support the second term ambition of Oyetola, according to sources. We gathered that Bello called Adeoti on phone on Thursday, January 6, to fix an appointment with him to deliver Tinubu’s message. But Adeoti, according to the impeccable sources, insisted that the message be discussed on phone and quickly turned down the invitation. A close friend of the former SSG who was privy to the phone conversation said: “I was with Adeoti when Adejare Belo called him. He (Bello) wanted to come to visit Adeoti but Alhaji insisted that he should be briefed on phone. “I did not know what Adejare Bello was saying at the other end but I heard Adeoti saying: ‘Tinubu said I should see him in Lagos? I cannot go and see him. Tell him I said I am not meeting him. Besides, he knows how to get across to me directly. I am not visiting him. There is nothing for us to discuss.’ “Adeoti was not ready to be persuaded. He was blunt and direct. I think because of his response, Bello felt it was not necessary to visit him again.” When contacted, Adeoti refused to comment on the matter. The medium gathered that Tinubu also invited Najeem Salaam who also rejected the invitation. According to some of Salaam’s aides, the former Speaker told Bello that if Tinubu wants to see him, he should come through his leader, Aregbesola. The aides said: “Speaker told Hon. Bello that he was not ready to meet Tinubu. He said he cannot be deceived like 2018 again. He recalled that it was the same Tinubu that persuaded him to drop his governorship ambition for Oyetola in 2018. And the same Tinubu had refused to call Oyetola to order since the crisis began. “Speaker said if Tinubu was desirous of seeing him, he should come through his leader, Aregbesola.”