The remarks made by Prince Adebayo Adeleke during the Osun Central meeting of the APC in Osogbo, Osun state capital, on Wednesday which had since dominated discussions in the state ‘political circle’, have also returned attention to a contentious issue- Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola’s continued membership of the party.
Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola , a one-time governor of Osun state , served as Minister for Interior under Muhammadu Buhari while Prince Bayo Adeleke a successful businessman and a politician, who is popularly called ‘Banik’ , served as Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs during the Gboyega Oyetola administration.
Addressing party members during the meeting in question, Banik condemned Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, for making himself available as ‘instrument of balkanization and destruction of the progressive party’, while submitting that the former governor can no longer be recognized as one of the governors produced by the party.
‘They said in our party in Osun state, we have two former governors, we have Chief Bisi Akande and ex-governor Adegboyega Oyetola.
Someone asked me about ex-governor Rauf Aregbesola and my response is that all members of APC in Osun state know that presently, Aregbesola is not a member of our party’ he said.
Banik also accused Aregbesola of leading others in the political onslaught against the Gboyega Oyetola administration which had resulted in his (Oyetola) being eased out of power in 2022.
The former commissioner , who volunteered to expand on the comments made by the APC National Secretary , former Senator Ajibola Basiru ( SRJ) a few days ago, had also noted that what the barrister-at-law said was not fully presented.
APC National Secretary, and other party bigwigs from the 10 local governments in the senatorial district attended the meeting.
Recall that Alhaji Basiru Ajibola had while talking to journalists in Osogbo last month said ‘our party is a party of leadership , as of today, there are two former governors in our party; Baba Bisi Akande and Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola’ and when asked while he did not include Aregbesola’s name ‘go and ask him which party he belongs to’ he had responded.
‘I am the National Secretary of APC and I know that we have been involved in a series of elections, and he has never participated in any election in the state since 2022, I don’t know which party he belongs to’ Ajibola had also submitted.
Prince Bayo Adeleke said; ‘Remarks made by our National Secretary, Senator Basiru Ajibola SRJ was poorly reported. He didn’t say Ogbeni Aregbesola had ceased to be recognized as a former governor of the state. What he said was that Ogbeni had by his past anti-party activities and continued combative attitude towards the party cut himself away from us, hence it is safe to say he is no longer one of us. We in the APC know that Aregbesola is no longer our member’.
He also recalled how Ogbeni Aregbesola allegedly mobilized his lieutenants and supporters to work against the party during 2022 governorship election and the 2023 general election, while adding that he (Aregbesola) later mocked the party for its judicial loss at the Supreme Court.
Banik added that a committed member of the party, especially a former governor and a one-time minister, should not have engaged in brazen anti-party activities as Aregbesola had allegedly done, while advising him (Aregbesola) to straighten relationship with President Bola Tinubu, who he called his leader and benefactor, if he (the former minister) is still interested in being accorded respect within the party.
The remarks made by Prince Bayo Adeleke had easily reignited a long-running debate over Aregbesola’s continued membership of the party the former minister’s media aide, Mr. Sola Fasure however told Team@orientactualmags.com on Friday morning that the idea of debating his principal’s continued APC membership is unnecessary and needless.
He also clarified that Aregbesola has not only remained a member of APC but also currently has his supporters and loyalists as members of one of the caucuses in the Osun state chapter of the party, the Omoluabi Progressive.
‘ Well, anytime the Omoluabi Progressive Caucus holds their meeting, the Ilerioluwa Oyetola group feel very uncomfortable.
Whatever they have said is because they have been feeling paranoid, they don’t have any followers in Osun state again.
Anytime the Omoluabi Progressive Caucus holds their own meeting it ends in a panic mode for the Ileri Oluwa group.
There are many caucuses within Osun state APC, the Omoluabi Progressive is a caucus in the state APC . The people talking about Aregbesola’s continued membership of the party are members of the Ilerioluwa caucus .
Aregbesola is a founding member of the APC, how can somebody who was a PDP member and only joined the party four years ago now say Aregbesola is no longer in APC.
Honestly, I don’t even see any reason to be talking about the people in question, and the issue they have raised ,seriously, maybe you just want to drive traffic to your online news outlet. Who brought the National Secretary of the party to APC? It was Aregbesola, how can he now say Aregbesola is no longer a member of APC, you all know the story.
He lost the moral high ground by saying Aregbesola is no longer a member of APC, someone who brought him from Lagos to Osun’ Fasure added.
Giving his take on the issue, Director of Publicity and Strategy, Osun state APC, Chief Kola Olabisi , questioned the moral correctness of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola’s decision to retain his membership of APC.
He added that having allegedly supported PDP candidates during the 2022 governorship election and the 2023 general election and also stayed away from party activities, virtue signaling requires that Aregbesola should no longer claim to be a member of APC.
‘It’s not a new thing, whoever belongs to a party should be attending party meetings and should vote for the party’s candidates during elections and the question you should ask is, did he vote for APC candidates in any of the recently held elections.
Did he vote for former governor Oyetola or the house of assembly candidates in Osun, even that of his boss, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, it was during one of the elections that he travelled abroad and we all saw how he was embarrassed. That is the question you should ask his people. When you belong to an association you have to abide by what they’re doing. I don’t know whether it’s proper to say somebody who has not been attending party meetings, who has not been voting, who has not been campaigning for APC candidates is still a member of the party.
We all saw how Aregbesola and his team were all rejoicing when APC lost election in Osun state and it is on record that a day before the election, Aregbesola directed all his people to vote for all PDP candidates . He also supported Adeleke and to show appreciation to him, his loyalists were appointed as cabinet members..
So, put all those things together if it is right to say whether such an element qualifies to be a member of the party though it may not be formal that he has been suspended. He was dancing when Oyetola lost re-election, you cannot tell me he doesn’t know about it.
I made it clear earlier that is it proper for a person who has not been attending or getting involved in party activities for over six years to say he is still a member of the party’ he added-Team@orientactualmags.com Do you have any information you wish to share with us? Do you want us to cover your event or programme? Kindly send SMS to 08059100286, 09094171980 or get in touch via orientactualmag@gmail.com. Thank you
