Akande in dilemma over Aregbesola, Oyetola feud

…as Aregbesola, Oyetola fight to finish

By OLUSESAN LAOYE

The crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress (APC), in Osun State is one of the knotty issues which the Chief Bisi Akande’s Presidential Reconciliation Committee would have to tackle

The issue of Osun forms part of the 150 memoranda said to have been received by the presidential committee which it was argued is topmost in Akande’s mind.

The Osun APC crisis is knotty because it involves two strong pillars of the same political family of Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, where Chief Akande himself is their father.

The two people involved, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, the immediate past  Governor of Osun State and now Minister of Interior and his successor, the incumbent governor of the State,  Mr Gboyega Oyetola are no longer together although they both worked together for eight years taking the same decisions together as governor and chief of staff.

What sources said is giving Chief Akande serious concern is that he had personally intervened in the imbroglio between his two political sons without result. Though both Aregbesola and Oyetola have been pretending that all is well, their supporters have never hidden the true pictures of the animosity between them as they continue to confront themselves, collectively or individually whenever they are at gatherings.

Unlike before, their supporters sit separately even at political gatherings as one could easily notice that all is not well in Osun APC,  which has now been sharply fictionalised.

BusinessHallmark learnt that the matter is being complicated the matter by the fact that both are dear to Tinubu. While Aregbesola remains a strong confidant of Tinubu, Oyetola is his blood relation and that both have been trying to avoid each other since the crisis became glaring in 2019.  Their supporters too have refused to sheath their sword.

Right now, both camps are not hiding their feelings and not pretending anymore that they are wide apart. The bone of contention has been on many issues which border on who holds the ace in Osun as Oyetola now wants to have the full grip of the party and the political structures of the State which has been under the control of the former governor Aregnesola.

Apart from the fact that the incumbent wants to have the party structures, he wants to be in the good books of the people of Osun State, which was the basis for reversing some of the policies of his former boss.

As one of the associates of Aregbesola said, “Oyetola intend to now rubbish the good work which Ogbeni has done to become very popular with the people whereas he was part of the government of Aregbesola which he is now condemning.”

To assert himself in the state Oyetola had to dismantle the political structure of Aregbesola and form his own called Ileri Oluwa. This group has since been at loggerheads with the Aregbesola vanguard and they have both been engaging in a war of wit. Although they have been trying to subdue the Aregbe vanguard, they have not been able to because the vanguard had been on the ground with tentacles across the State before the election which brought their mentor to power in his first term.

Some of the things which Oyetola did and which also heightened the crisis are the reversal of the education policies, such as the reclassification of public school, the abolition of single-sex school,  the unified uniform system. Their reversal was in tune with the agitations of stakeholders, missionaries, schools owners.

What jolted the loyalists of Aregbesola was that Oyetola blacked them out from all appointments and made them redundant.  With this, the loyalists of Aregbesola vowed that it would be fighting to the finish.

While reacting to the reversal of some of Aregbesola ‘s policies, it was argued by the state Commissioner of education, Mr Folorunsho Bamisayemi, and the Special Adviser on education Mr Jamiu Olawumi said that out of 26 issues due for review, 14 were reviewed by the council while the remaining 12 were referred to the committee.

One other issue which was said to have put Governor Oyetola on edge concerns the indebtedness of the state during the tenure of Aregbesola which they argued has now become a burden to the present government. The debt profile of the state as of 2018 was put at N136 billion domestic while the external was estimated to be $102 million.

Osun is a state has one of the lowest federal allocations of about N173 billion and internally generated revenue estimated at less than N30 billion per annum. This is why the repayment of the loans taken by the Aregbesola’s government is said to have become a big concern for the present government of Governor Oyetola.

Meanwhile, there were mixed reactions to the reversal of the Aregbesola’s policies; while those who are loyal to him viewed it as an affront to discredit him, there were jubilations especially about the change in the education policy.

Former Chairman of the Association of the Nigerian Council of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS) Mr Biodun Abiosun who was one of the movers for the change said, “I think it was good that the policy of merger, common uniforms which made the schools to lose their identity was not good for the state. With this, each school would be able to identify their students unlike before when it was difficult to know who is who among the students which made some of them get away with crimes or not disciplined for offences committed outside their schools”.

Also, the state commissioner for works Mr Oluremi Omowaoye said that the review of some of the policies of the last administration was in good faith. He argued that it should not be seen as a rejection of former governor Aregbesola’s policy but rather an improvement.

According to him, “we are Aregbesola’s legacy. Some of us were part of the decisions of Aregesola and there was no doubt he did his best for Osun state. To review policy is normal and is to give the best and upgrade the existing one and that is why we review our laws  and  constitutions from time to time’”

The Deputy Governor of the State, Mr Gbyega Benedict Alabi had said that both Aregesola and Oyetola are great leaders and that what the present government of governor Oyetola is doing should not be regarded as a total reversal but to consolidate what has already been done”

But a strong member of Aregbesol’s group, Tunde Olofin, said that they are watching the actions of Oyetola

as they believed that his actions now are belated and only meant to run down the government of Aregbesola, which he was a stakeholder and strong participant. He said “Oyetola at this stage can’t claim ignorance about these policies now being condemned because he was the former    Chief of staff who dinned and wined with Aregbesola who also did everything to ensure  that he became his successor”

Whatever the case may be former governor Bisi Akande would need to succeed in uniting the warring groups in his home state where he is regarded as the father of all irrespective of their political affiliations.  It was said that failure to do this in Osun would dent the image and credibility of his committee