The lawmaker that represented Osun Central in the 9th Senate, Dr Ajibola Basiru, said on Wednesday that the activities of former Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, in the build-up to the last general elections have cast doubt on his membership of the All Progressives Congress.
The former Senate spokesperson, who spoke at his campaign office in Osogbo while giving an account of his stewardship at the Red Chamber, also said he did not visit the palace of Ataoja of Osogbo, Oba Jimoh Olanipekun, to seek support for his reelection bid because the monarch did not act impartially between parties fielding candidates at the poll.
Basiru, who lost his reelection in the 2023 general elections to the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr Olubiyi Fadeyi, failed to acknowledge Aregbesola in his speech as he rolled out the names of eminent leaders of the APC, thanking them for the role they have been playing in keeping the party together.
Responding to a question regarding why Aregbesola was left out of the roll call of APC leaders, Basiru said, “Asiwaju Bola Tinubu contested on the same day that I contested the National Assembly election; our former minister and leader was not around to vote for his benefactor and mentor. It is on record that he didn’t come to campaign, he didn’t come to support the party, and he didn’t even come to cast his vote for Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
“We also had the House of Assembly election; did he go to vote at that election? So, nobody is aggrieved. I am certainly not aggrieved. We who are here are the genuine members of the APC. So, these are the genuine members. Those who are not, ask them why.
“I told you the immediate past Minister of Interior was our leader, but I don’t know which party he belongs to now. I don’t know. Quote me; he was our leader, but I don’t know which party he belongs to. For the past three elections, we have not seen him participating in any of our party’s activities.”
But an aide to Aregbesola, Mr Sola Fasure, when contacted for reaction, said all the former Osun governor was interested in at the moment was uniting APC in the state, adding that “that shows which party he belongs to.”
