The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has launched a scathing attack on former governor Rauf Aregbesola, accusing him of reneging on a reconciliatory agreement brokered by President Bola Tinubu and party chieftain, Chief Bisi Akande.
Aregbesola recently claimed that his successor, Adegboyega Oyetola, reneged on a pact reached in August 2021 to give his faction one-third of government appointments in Oyetola’s second term. However, the APC chairman in the state, Tajudeen Lawal, vehemently denies this.
Lawal clarifies that the agreement Aregbesola references was not with the APC, but rather with the Adeleke dynasty, which ultimately won the 2022 governorship election. This explains, Lawal claims, why Aregbesola’s faction received one-third of appointments under the current administration led by Governor Ademola Adeleke.
Lawal further said that the only genuine agreement, endorsed by Tinubu and Akande, occurred in December 2020. This agreement, Lawal claims, was drafted by Aregbesola himself and stipulated a one-term ticket for Oyetola and joint leadership of the party by Akande, Aregbesola, and Oyetola.
Lawal accuses Aregbesola of betraying this agreement by sponsoring a rival candidate against Oyetola in the party primaries and subsequently challenging Oyetola’s nomination in court. He also noted Aregbesola’s unsuccessful attempt to replace the party’s elected chairman with his factional appointee.
The statement read in part, “At the end of the meeting, it was Aregbesola who prepared the contents of the resolutions and gave it to our Baba, Chief Bisi Akande, to vet before it was passed on to the leaders of the party. And part of the agreement was that there would be an automatic ticket for Oyetola and that while Oyetola would be allowed to face governance without interference from any quarters, the trio of Chief Bisi Akande, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola will lead, guide, coordinate and administer the party as the apex body.
“But during the primaries, Aregbesola sponsored Alhaji Moshood Adeoti against Oyetola contrary to the agreement reached. Oyetola won the election. The same Aregbesola went to court with Adeoti to challenge the outcome of the primary. He also sponsored 10 different cases in various courts to challenge the nomination of Oyetola as the candidate of the APC.
“Before then, he held a parallel congress and pushed unsuccessfully to have a validly elected chairman of the party replaced with his factional chairman.
“As if that was not enough, Aregbesola went ahead to sponsor three different candidates against Oyetola in the governorship election. So, who betrayed each other?”
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