EDITORIAL: Is Osun APC Threatened By Aregbesola’s Influence?

The recent suspension of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola by the Osun State All Progressives Congress (APC) has raised more questions than answers. Aregbesola, a founding member of the APC, the only two-term Governor of Osun so far, and immediate past Minister of Interior, now stands accused of anti-party activities by the Osun APC, as detailed in a letter to the party’s National Chairman. This letter, backed by Osun APC Chairman Sooko Tajudeen Lawal and Secretary Kamoru Alao, lists six allegations and announces that Aregbesola will face a disciplinary committee.

But in the rush to suspend him, one wonders whether the Osun APC is aiming for discipline or settling old political scores. For context, internal divisions within the APC didn’t begin with Aregbesola. The party’s history in Osun has been marked by various groups and caucuses, including Oranmiyan, De Raufs, Young Mandate Group, Osun Positive Force, and the IleriOluwa movement established by former Governor Gboyega Oyetola himself. Given this landscape, it’s curious why Aregbesola’s Omoluabi Caucus—like other groups before it—is now labelled as a divisive “splinter group.”

The accusations of creating parallel structures also appear selective. Members of Aregbesola’s faction have faced arrests and court cases in recent years, allegedly orchestrated by the same faction now leading the state APC. Accusations of forming parallel party structures are not new in Osun politics, and previous complaints have hardly merited this level of response. Topical among the selective arrest of Aregbesola’s loyalists and their consequential appearance before a Magistrates’ Court in Osogbo on August 29, 2021, as well as a suit that sought to halt the formation of Omoluabi Progressives on January 09, 2024.

Another key allegation is that Aregbesola’s supporters worked with opposition groups in the lead-up to the 2022 Osun governorship election. Yet, in a statement dated July 13, 2022, Lowo Adebiyi, then-Chairman of Aregbesola’s faction, the defunct The Osun Progressives (TOP), explicitly urged members to support APC’s candidate, despite feeling marginalized. He confirmed that the faction’s loyalty remained with APC—a fact conveniently ignored in the Osun APC’s recent letter.

The suspension notice also claims Aregbesola has refrained from supporting the APC in elections since 2019. But evidence suggests otherwise, with statements like those from Ajibola Famurewa, former Director General of the IleriOluwa campaign, suggesting that any uninvited support from Aregbesola’s faction would be unwelcome. If party leaders discourage involvement, is it fair to accuse Aregbesola of disengagement?

Despite the challenge of involvement, Aregbesola’s polling unit, ward, and local government were won by the APC on July 16, 2022. How would someone who delivered all of his closest electoral constituency to APC be considered as someone who has done anti-party? Even in other states, persons adjudged to have committed antiparty crimes, including highly placed individuals in Nigeria today, supported separate parties to uphold their political interests and were never sent out of the party.

READ: Aregbesola’s Suspension: Why Osun APC Is Jittery

Interestingly, Osun APC has always played the very obnoxious role of ostracising those it perceives as enemies and covering those who lick the ass of its alpha and omega. A clear instance is the case of the July 16, 2022 election, where Aregbesola was denied the opportunity to work for his party and was still blamed for his party’s electoral loss, when he was simply told to stay away.

Some of the charges against Aregbesola, such as criticisms of party leaders, seem minor compared to the overt confrontations seen within the Osun APC. Past incidents—including threats, attacks, and even shots fired at the Oranmiyan House, a symbol of Aregbesola’s influence on Feb. 3, 2022—have gone unanswered. In fact, the party till date has yet to comment on the particular incident. In addition, a few of these include threats by Oyetola’s spokesperson, Ismail Omipidan, in an article of April 3, 2024: ‘What does Aregbesola want from Oyetola?’, APC National Secretary Ajibola Basiru’s June 14, 2024, claim that Aregbesola was no longer a leader/member of the party in the state and one that came in October 2024 from the Sooko Tajudeen Lawal-led Osun APC that the former governor is no longer relevant in Osun politics and will not be needed for the 2026 governorship election in the state after a similar postulation in June 2024 that he was no longer a member of the party. Why does the party need to suspend a nonmember repeatedly if it is truly in a position of strength that it presents itself in everyday statements and pronouncements? It appears the state APC is ignoring its own contradictions while selectively targeting Aregbesola, or maybe the question; ‘Why is the Osun APC bothering itself with a man it does not see as useful to its political aspirations?’ would suffice.

Ultimately, the suspension raises deeper questions about the state of the Osun APC. At a time when genuine stakeholders raised concerns and sought reconciliation with the dissolution of TOP – The Osun Progressives in December 2022, the response was a coffin displayed in the Alimosho area of Lagos State, where an end to Aregbesola’s political influence and possible death was declared by some nitwits. With the next gubernatorial election just two years away, is the party better served by internal strife or by unity? If the aim is to strengthen the APC’s position in Osun, suspending one of its founding pillars and leaders hardly seems productive. Political parties thrive on healthy debate, but they crumble when leadership becomes preoccupied with punitive actions over genuine reconciliation.

In time, as always, the truth will come to light.