Ismail Omipidan, former Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to one-time governor of Osun State, Adegboyega Oyetola, has disclosed that he once warned Asiwaju Bola Tinubu in 2018 over the alleged treacherous tendencies of former governor Rauf Aregbesola.
Omipidan stated this in an extract of his recently uneveiled book, ‘Persona Non Grata’, which he posted on his Facebook page on Tuesday.
He explained that he spoke to Tinubu in 2018 prior to his appointment in 2019 as the CPS to the then Governor Oyetola.
“In 2014, when Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola was seeking a re-election, I set up a six-man media team to do an intervention on his behalf six months before the election.
“I funded the team and deployed my Facebook timeline in support of Aregbesola. Once the election was won and lost, members of the team approached me and asked when we would be going to Osun to celebrate. That was the first time I let them know no one was paying my bills and that I had no link with anyone in government.
“Most of them were shocked at my revelation because for the six months the team worked, in the build-up to the election, I made logistics available throughout.”
He also recalled that prior to joining the government of Governor Oyetola in 2019, he knew what the issues were, especially how his party struggled to win the 2018 election.
“In fact, I had predicted in one of my articles before the 2018 election that no clear winner would emerge from the first ballot. I went further to state emphatically that any of the two leading candidates that were interested in winning must negotiate with Senator Iyiola Omisore, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate, to carry the day. That was exactly what eventually happened.”
He added that the 2018 election was a referendum on Aregbesola. “He was faced with what could be regarded as the “battle of his life.”
Omipidan said that he suggested after the election through his writings on Facebook to Oyetola “to drop the garb of arrogance of Aregbesola and the know-it-all attitude of that administration if he wanted to succeed.”
“I equally admonished Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to do an introspection on the role of Aregbesola within the political family.
“I took that position based on what I saw in Ondo and Osun States before, during and after their 2017 and 2018 governorship elections, respectively.
“And I want to believe that I am vindicated by Aregbesola’s disposition towards President Tinubu’s presidential ambition four years after my suggestion.”
He said the late former governor of Oyo State, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, did a yeoman’s job in Osun State during the election, while Aregbesola carried on in that election as if nothing was at stake.
LEADERSHIP reports that Omipidan’s new book has ignited conversations as its contents continue to generate debates.
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