Insiders Tell How Rift With Aregbesola Is Doing Damage To Gov Oyetola’s Reelection Bid
A serious damage is being done to the ambition of Alhaji Adegboyega Oyetola, the reelection-seeking Governor of Osun State.
According to information, the damage afflicting the governor’s reelection bid has roots in the fight going on between him and his predecessor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola.
Aregbesola, now the Minister of Interior in the government of President Mahammadu Buhari, was the governor of Osun State between 2010 and 2018.
The political squabble between the governor and the man he served in his government as Chief of Staff for 8 years has polarised the ruling party in the state, highstreet.ng understands.
Interestingly, the lingering political discord resulted, a couple of months ago, in the birth of The Osun Progressives (TOP), a splinter group within the Osun state chapter of the APC.
TOP is largely populated by party members who are against the style of leadership of Governor Oyetola and loyal to the Minister of the Interior, checks by highstreet.ng revealed.
The group just won over three top guns in the party, namely Lasun Yusuf, the immediate past Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Moshood Adeoti, a governorship candidate in the 2018 election, and former speaker of Osun State House of Assembly, Hon Najeem Salam.
Information reaching highstreet.ng has it that members who are loyalists of former governor Aregbesola and other major actors who are having a running battle with the incumbent have started moving to the opposition party.
This is a situation across almost all the wards in the state and it’s happening on daily basis, sources within and outside the party disclosed.
Checks by our reporter revealed the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to be the major beneficiary of the development.
“They have started moving out of the ruling party… this the situation in virtually all the wards and local government areas… You are not hearing about them because they are known names… But the danger for the ruling party lies in the fact that they have the number and already populating the rival PDP”, a source who is familiar with the current situation told highstreet.ng.
If the fight is not quickly resolved and movement to the rival PDP by members continues Governor Oyetola’s reelection bid may be in serious danger, another source added.
