•As He Warms His Way Back To LAGOS APC
The return of Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola into Lagos APC as seen with his activities in the last few days in Lagos has been a thing of discourse amongst many party faithfuls.
Ahead of March 18, 2023, gubernatorial election insiders claim that the legend of grassroots politics in Lagos state, Rauf Aregbesola is back to base. Aregbesola, the estranged ally of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is said to have put political differences apart to work for the re-election of Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State. And this does not go down well with some Tinubu loyalists who see this move as opportunism.
The Minister of Interior is said to have galvanized statewide support from his army of supporters and loyalists for the governor from his high votes stronghold of Alimosho to complement the work of other groups and political cells. Infact recently he has also been to many Hausa community in Lagos to rally votes for the party’s victory in the next gubernatorial polls. The move marks what appears a return to the political family of President-Elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu after a steamy faceoff.
Though Asiwaju won the presidential election without Aregbesola’s support, the President-Elect lost in Osun and Lagos States where the minister is a known political factor at the grassroots.
Aregbesola is a former two-term governor of Osun State – where he groomed the APC – and former multiple-term Commissioner in Lagos where he held sway as next in rank to Asiwaju Tinubu.
The upcoming March 18, 2023 election in Lagos has transformed into a feisty contest colored with ethnic issues that have forced the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to call out its big guns, including Aregbesola – and close ranks – in the bid to hold on to power. On March 12, the former Osun Governor met with Igbo residents and All Progressives Congress (APC) stalwarts in the state to rally support for Sanwo-Olu.
Addressing stakeholders at his Ikeja residence last Sunday, Aregbesola urged them to ensure the party’s victory by embarking on various mobilization and door-to-door campaigns. As President-elect Bola Tinubu takes office, more progress would occur, according to the former governor of Osun, who predicted that Sanwo-Olu’s victory.The minister asked them to set aside their differences and work together to ensure the party’s electoral victory.
“We cannot allow those who have not fought alongside us since the beginning, including the SDP, AD, AC, ACN, and now the APC, to take what is rightfully ours.We put in a lot of effort to achieve what we have in Lagos today, he emphasized..
Why is there this so called clamour about Aregbe’s return to APC, ? His fight with president elect, Tinubu was a very feisty one. Aregbesola had a widely-publicised falling-out with Tinubu ahead of the presidential primaries but few months after, Aregbe retraced his steps and made a reconciliatory move to see Tinubu but all his effort were stiffened according to his spokesman who said the people surrounding Tinubu has made it difficult for him. It was once said that the 30-year-old connection between President Elect,Bola Tinubu and Minister of the Interior Rauf Aregbesola was a match made in heaven.
Tinubu was the Social Democratic Party’s nominee for the Lagos-West Senate Seat. Yet, Aregbesola and Tinubu shared a political ideology, and they quickly developed a friendship that would eventually become a fraternity.
Tinubu, a Senator at the time, was persecuted by the General Sani Abacha administration when the military junta controversially nullified the election of June 12, 1993, and he fled to exile until Abacha’s death in 1998.
In the run-up to the Lagos State elections in 1999, Aregbesola, as a campaign manager, launched a massive campaign across the state’s 20 local government areas, helping Tinubu to win the governorship election. Tinubu rewarded Aregbesola by appointing him the Commissioner for Works, the biggest portfolio in the state which also controls the largest budget. During the Osun State election in 2019, Tinubu urged that Oyetola, a political novice, be chosen as Aregbesola’s successor.
In addition to being his cousin, Oyetola was Tinubu’s business partner. Months after leaving office, Aregbesola was appointed as the Minister of Interior by President Muhammadu Buhari, forcing him to spend most of his time in Abuja. Oyetola discontinued some contracts awarded by Aregbesola. He also ensured that Tinubu ran the politics of the state often without Aregbesola’s input. In addition, many of Aregbesola’s core supporters were neglected by Oyetola.
Complaints made by Aregbesola to Tinubu were said to have been ignored as Tinubu took sides with his cousin, a development which infuriated Aregbesola’s camp.
Amid rumours that Aregbesola was nursing a Presidential ambition, the Governor’s Advisory Council in Lagos, which is led by Tinubu, ordered the dismantling of all political groups within the APC including the Mandate Group, Aregbesola’s base in Alimosho, Lagos State, which had helped Tinubu to win two governorship elections. Many in the party believed that the directive was targeted at Aregbesola’s group which was the strongest in the state.
The surprising upsurge in Labour Party’s fortunes — even winning at Alimosho which is a stronghold of the APC — has led to series of meetings convened by Aregbesola between stakeholders. This is in order to bolster the changes of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu who faces a huge fight retaining his seat with the LP enjoying massive support amongst the youths.However, a source stated that the moves were a ploy by Aregbesola to get back into Tinubu’s good grace.
“Aregbesola has met crucial stakeholders in Alimosho in order to ensure the party’s victory but making amends with Tinubu is the paramount objective,” the source revealed.
Whether these entreaties will be enough to get into the President-elect’s good books remain to be seen.
The rift between Bola Tinubu and Rauf Aregbesola who are often referred to as political “brothers”, as they called themselves began in May 2020, when Aregbesola arbitrarily revamped the Mandate Group — a core of Tinubu’s loyalists — and usurped the closely-knitted caucus for individuals he could trust.
The former Osun governor sanctioned the relaunch without Tinubu’s approval, naming Abdullahi Enilolobo, his protege from Alimosho LGA, as the new leader, while he remained the grand patron of the group.
The move birthed a torpedo within the caucus and the Lagos All Progressives Congress (APC), which eventually tore down the Mandate Group.
A subsequent communique signed by 27 party chieftains, who are members of the Governor’s Advisory Council (GAC), had said: “It was unequivocally resolved that all factions like Justice Group and Mandate Group are inimical to party unity and are hereby permanently disbanded and prohibited within the party.”
The then-brewing rift between Aregbesola and Tinubu was also worsened by Gboyega Oyetola’s actions as the governor of Osun as stated earlier. Although Oyetola served as chief of staff to Aregbesola during his tenure as Osun Governor, he is related to Tinubu and more loyal to the former Lagos State Governor.
Fast forward to February 2022, with the Osun APC gubernatorial primary election approaching, the feud between the duo had become conspicuous.
Aregbesola demonstrated the collapse of his “brotherhood” with Tinubu while speaking in Oriade LGA of Osun on a campaign trail for Moshood Adeoti, his anointed candidate for the APC guber ticket.The Minister launched tirades of verbal assaults at Tinubu. He said Tinubu was exalted “beyond his status, and he turned himself to a god over us”.
Aregbesola added that Oyetola would be ousted from office for failing to stick to the plan that would make Osun prosperous.”We came back home to reposition our party to where it was meant to be because we followed the lead of our leader that we thought was a noble and reliable fellow. We followed him (Tinubu) dutifully with all sense of loyalty,” he said.
“Some people even thought that we were no longer Muslims because of how we cooperated with him. We dealt with him without treachery, but we never knew he planned evil for us.We exalted him beyond his status, and he turned himself to a god over us, and we had sworn to ridicule anyone who compared himself to God.
When he (Tinubu) handed over the present governor to me around July of 2018, he (Tinubu) declared that he (Oyetola) will succeed me and continue my good works. That was what he told me. He knows he has not done so if he is listening now, and he has failed to call my successor to order.
“That was how it was in Lagos at a time; a governor derailed, and the party members unseated him using the ballot boxes. As it was in Lagos yesterday, so shall it be in Osun today. “What is good for the goose is also good for the gander.”
The simmering feud between the two since 2020 has now aggravated into a full-blown war, with Aregbesola taking the first hit.Will this protracted battle completely shatter the relationship between the long-time political allies? That was the question on many people’s lips but it seems Aregbe is making a U.turn to further pledge his once tempered loyality to Tinubu who has been his long time ally.
-TAYO OYEDIJI
(08111811219)
