BOLA BAMIGBOLA writes on the disagreement between the Osun State Governor, Adegboyega Oyetola, and a former governor of the state, Rauf Aregbesola, ahead of the governorship primary of the All Progressives Congress today
It is not news that the relationship between the Minister of Interior and former governor of Osun State, Mr Rauf Aregbesola, and the incumbent governor, Adegboyega Oyetola, has gone sour. The two were almost inseparable in the eight years that Aregbesola, a former Lagos State Commissioner for Works, governed Osun. Before the November 26, 2010, landmark judgement of the Justice Clara Ogunbiyi-led Appeal Court panel, in the Ibadan Division, which declared Aregbesola as the governor of Osun State, after over three years of legal battle, Oyetola was never known to be a household name, at least, within the political circle in the state.
But barely six weeks into the life of the Aregbesola administration, specifically in January 2011, some appointments were made and Oyetola and Moshood Adeoti, the man who led the party that formed the new government as state chairman through the period of struggle for the mandate, were both announced as the Chief of Staff to the governor and Secretary to the State Government, respectively. Although he came in as a greenhorn into political office, Oyetola, an indigene of Iragbiji, the headquarters of the Boripe Local Government Area of the state, soon formed an excellent working relationship with Aregbesola, his younger boss. But the two possess different personae. Aregbesola showed pace, passion and boisterousness, as against Oyetola’s taciturn nature and eyes for details.
So influential was Oyetola in Aregbesola’s administration to the outsiders that many felt the then SSG, Adeoti, was merely a figurehead in the administration, as the office of the Chief of Staff was regarded as the main artery ensuring the seamless flow in the life of the state government. Many close monitors of the administration as of that time attributed the milage Oyetola had in Aregbesola’s government to a former Lagos State governor, Senator Bola Tinubu, considered as the political umbilical cord connecting the two men. But at what point did Aregbesola and Oyetola part ways?
Aregbesola’s subtle rejection of Oyetola as APC flagbearer in 2018
In December 2017, when the contest for the party’s ticket for the 2018 governorship election gathered momentum and all eyes were fixed on Oyetola, as Aregbesola’s anointed successor, many did not know that the sitting governor had his eyes on a certain Adelere Oriolowo, who was his classmate at The Ibadan Polytechnic and was as of that time, the programme coordinator of the Rural Access and Mobility Project, supported by the World Bank.
It was also alleged then that Aregbesola deliberately allowed agitations by key political figures in the APC demanding that the governorship ticket of the ruling party be zoned to Osun West senatorial district to fester, as part of a plot to push Oyetola out of the race. But despite the unfavourable signs coming from the former governor, Oyetola steadily trudged on, having beside him a certain Remi Omowaiye, who was then the Commissioner for Science, Innovation and Technology, and believed to have launched his governorship campaign among Aregbesola’s cabinet members at the time others in the state executive council were said to have been afraid to openly associate with the man their boss was not convinced should succeed him.
What is more, Aregbesola’s search for a successor later shifted from Oriolowo to Bola Oyebamiji, another prominent political figure from the senatorial district who was then serving as Commissioner for Finance. Oyebamiji hails from Ikire. At the peak of the struggle for the APC ticket, Oyetola was said to have handed down his resignation letter as the chief of staff in protest of Aregbesola’s subtle opposition to his ambition. But the situation took a shocking turn a few days to the APC governorship primary when Aregbesola suddenly changed his mind and redirected power brokers in the party to work for the actualisation of Oyetola’s ambition.
Interestingly, an unconfirmed source at that time claimed that Aregbesola had told his political godfather and the National Leader of the APC, Tinubu, that Oyetola, as a candidate, would not be acceptable by the majority of the power blocs in the party. But the sudden change in his disposition to the project, sources within the party said. was owing to the directive Tinubu gave to Aregbesola to make Oyetola popular at all costs. Expectedly, Tinubu’s choice candidate secured the governorship ticket of the APC, albeit under a controversial circumstance.
However, there was a twist. No sooner had plans for the commencement of Oyetola’s campaign been concluded than the former state helmsman on whose shoulders the project rested reportedly travelled out of the country. It was alleged that he gave an order that the campaign be placed on hold until he returned.
That development did not go down well with Oyetola’s loyalists as they perceived Aregbesola’s action as another deliberate attempt by him to truncate the governorship project of their preferred candidate and reduce his chances of winning the election.
But when it seemed like the concerns from Oyetola’s camp over Aregbesola fizzled out following the vigorous campaign the governor enjoyed, the result of the first ballot of the governorship poll on September 24, 2018, which gave the Peoples Democratic Party’s candidate, Ademola Adeleke, a small lead over the ruling party’s flagbearer, further strained the relationship between the current Minister of Interior and the incumbent governor.
While the plan for the runoff poll was on, it became clear that the Social Democratic Party and its candidate in the election, Senator Iyiola Omisore, were the beautiful brides that the PDP and APC had to woo. Sensing the disagreement between Aregbesola and Omisore could become a clog in the wheel of progress for the ruling party, sources said the Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, and other APC governors in the South-West at that time, were called in to intervene and rescue the party from an embarrassing loss at the poll. Throughout the period the ruling party battled the PDP candidate in court over the outcome of the governorship election, Aregbesola and Oyetola’s camp never showed signs of a strained relationship between the two men. But further cracks in their relationship surfaced during the selection of key cabinet positions, including the appointment of the chief of staff to the governor and secretary to the state government.
The chairman of APC faction loyal to Aregbesola, Rasaq Salinsile, had recently told Saturday PUNCH that while preparing for the 2018 election, the former governor pleaded with Oyetola to appoint him (Salinsile) as the chief of staff if elected governor
“The former governor (Aregbesola) sat him (Oyetola) down and told him in 2018 that these (Iwo) people were angry that the governorship and deputy governor’s tickets were not given to them or their zone. If they will support us on Oyetola’s course, they demanded the position of chief of staff. Not only that; that they would complete the three months left in Ogbeni Aregbesola’s tenure,” Salinsile said.
He added, “He and Ogbeni had had the discussion for over an hour before I was called in and immediately I got to the place, Ogbeni said to me, ‘Salinsile, that (Oyetola) is your new boss. Tell him everything about yourself.’ I told him everything about me up to that point. When I told him that I attended University of Lagos, Oyetola responded that he attended the same school. When Ogbeni asked him how he saw it (the idea). The governor said, ‘Sir, you can’t want something and I would disagree with you.’’
“And we started work. After winning the election, I only heard the announcement of a new chief of staff on the radio. It would have been better if he had approached or called to tell me that he couldn’t work with me for whatever reasons he could give to me.”
Apart from Salinsile, sources within the party said, the reported nomination of a Speaker of Osun State House of Assembly, Najeem Salam, as the SSG upon Oyetola’s emergence as governor, following Aregbesola’s suggestion, was rejected. Several other prominent members of the Aregbesola administration who were promised cabinet seats in Oyetola’s government by the erstwhile governor, were also said to have been rejected by the governor because the promises were made without his knowledge.
But a member of the inner caucus of Ileri Oluwa, the political campaign group of the governor, who pleaded not to be named, while offering reasons why Oyetola did not accept some of those pencilled down for positions by the former governor, said, “Aregbesola chose the deputy governor, current Speaker of the House of Assembly and picked all the members of the APC that contested for the National Assembly seats.
“He chose all the APC candidates for the House of Assembly (poll) except for Kunle Akande, representing Olorunda State Constituency who was nominated by Oyetola, being his childhood friend. The man who nominated all these people still wanted to pick the chief of staff, secretary to the government and other key positions. It is true Oyetola rejected Salinsile because his nomination was a set-up for him to fail as governor. Salinsile, a Muslim from Iwo nominated as Chief of Staff, and (Najeem) Salam, a Muslim from Ejigbo, was nominated as SSG. Both are from Osun West; the two men are Muslims.
“The governor also practises Islam. Going ahead to adopt these nominations would have sent a wrong signal and portrayed Oyetola as a religious bigot. It was like Aregbesola wanted to encircle his successor with his allies which would have spelt doom for the system. You can’t run with people you don’t have deep trust in.”
Similarly, sources in the party also said Aregbesola had a few hours to the inauguration of the new government, approved a severance package running to almost N1bn for his commissioners, special advisers and selected security men who worked with him. But Oyetola, it was gathered, complained of limited resources when the government was inaugurated and refused to pay the severance package.
The disagreement between the two further played out in important political and social events. For example, the absence of Oyetola and members of his cabinet at Aregbesola’s installation as Wasiri of Osogbo was, perhaps, the first clear sign that the two men had parted ways but were only struggling not to overheat the polity through constant denial that they were at peace whenever they were confronted by the press.
The gulf between the two camps was further widened with the reversal of some extant policies introduced in the education sector by the Aregbesola administration. The Oyetola administration, through a committee of professionals, reversed the school merger, single uniform for public schools, reclassification into primary, middle and high school, as well as the change of names of government schools, all of which were initiatives implemented by Aregbesola’s government.
Loyalists of the ex-governor, while reacting to the step taken by Oyetola, had said reversing the policies was not because they were not working as claimed by the governor, insisting that the move was aimed at rubbishing the legacies of his predecessor. Also, the demand for the removal of Adegboyega Famoodun as the APC state chairman by Aregbesola’s camp was seen as an attempt to take away the party structure from the incumbent governor and put him at the risk of losing a second term ticket.
Furthermore, the political struggles between the two camps led to the formation of ‘The Osun Progressives,’ a faction in Osun APC backed by Aregbesola. The group was also said to have superintended over the division of the party’s structures into factions from the ward to the state levels. Lately, the struggle between the two camps assumed a dangerous dimension leading to attacks and could get worse in the coming days since Aregbesola men are preparing to present an aspirant at the forthcoming APC governorship primary against Oyetola.
However, analysts believe that the Oyetola-Aregbesola feud could be resolved, regardless of the hostilities among their loyalists. Professor of Anthropology of Development at the University of Ibadan, Aderemi Ajala, said no political feud was too deep to be resolved if the parties were willing to settle their differences.
Ajala said, “There is no crisis in politics that can’t be resolved simply because partisan politics is determined by interest. Now, it can be a result of a collision of interest between Aregbesola and Oyetola that made the crisis surface. But, if by tomorrow they have a common interest to pursue, they would still have to come together. An example is the crisis between Adeoti and Aregbesola before 2018 which made Adeoti dump the APC where he contested for the governorship election. And today, Aregbesola is the same person supporting Adeoti’s candidature in APC for the forthcoming 2022 governorship primary.
“Another example is the case of Lasun Yusuf and Aregbesola, when Aregbesola made efforts to stop Lasun from becoming the Speaker of the House of Representatives then, and eventually, he (Lasun) was made the Deputy Speaker. Then Lasun came back to contest the 2018 governorship election. Openly, Aregbesola said no to his ambition and he stood against him even up till October 2021. But shortly after that, they became friends, being together in the same faction. These examples actually tell us that there is no crisis in partisan politics that can’t be resolved and that is why there are no permanent enemies in politics and no permanent friends.
“So, the crisis between Aregbesola and Oyetola can be resolved too. It can be resolved between now and the election. One thing that politicians dread so much is staying out of power for a second because they know what power is. Power is influence, authority, and more. When you are in power, you are in control, but when you are not in power, you are totally at loss. And I believe that both factions will recognize that fact.
“I strongly believe that by the time they have the primary election and they weigh the available options for each of the factions, the faction that is continuously at the receiving end will retreat and say it is better to resolve the crises amicably. Even if the head of the faction refuses, I can tell you 80 per cent of those following them, who have no other means of survival, will have to flow naturally to where they can get their means of livelihood.”
Ajala, further said the current realities in the state political terrain suggested that the crises in APC might not be strong enough to stop Oyetola’ reelection, more so when the opposition party had not shown the capacity to take advantage of the situation in the ruling party and ride to power.
The days preceding the governorship primary, activities in the camps of the two gladiators have been chaotic, to say the least. The two camps have continued to trade blame over alleged shooting by security men in Aregbesola’s convoy.
Security agencies in the state have also been caught in the web of controversies, even as the Osun State Police Command in its official reaction to the incident of shooting in Osogbo, said security men in the convoy shot into the air without provocation.
The state command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps said the security men shot to protect the Minister after the convoy was attacked around Old Garage Area by “unknown political hoodlums”.
Going into Saturday’s exercise, Aregbesola has upped revelations on why Oyetola would not be allowed to have a ticket for another term of office, but the camp of Oyetola appears to have been matching the former governor in every move he (Aregbesola) makes.
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