A former Governor of Osun State, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, was expelled from the All Progressives Congress (APC) for his alleged demarketing of the ruling party, Sunday Telegraph can report.
This was even as his erstwhile prodigy and former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Ajibola Basiru, is being prepped to become the next governor of Osun State.
Multiple Sources conversant with the happenings in the State of the Living Spring confided in Sunday Telegraph that Aregbesola’s sin was the statement credited to his aides that they decided to withdraw their membership of the party because APC was a dying party in Osun State.
“This, the hierarchy of the party found very offensive and with this, Ogbeni has shown that he could no longer be trusted as a member of the political family of the Asiwaju and a trusted ally”, said a source.
“He has been ostracized as it were. All attempts to broker any meaningful rapport with his former friend and political ally has failed and those in the camp of the President are of the view that with this latest moves, he has shown that he is not to be trusted again and he is no longer welcomed to their political family,” one of the Sources said.
The Source also said: “ The APC Asiwaju Coalition has now decided that Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has finally shown that he is no longer part of the family. Even now, some of the people, who were working behind the scenes, trying to broker a rapport with the Tinubu Group were very disappointed. They felt that he has made their work very difficult and they felt disappointed.
“They said that they were at the point of convincing Tinubu to give him a second chance when he decided to pull out his political group and they are also particularly angry because of the statement that some of his aides made that they left APC because APC is a dying party in Osun.
“They said that comment just at the preparation and angling for the next election in Osun, it shows that indeed those who said that he should be expelled, that was why he was eventually expelled from the party.”
Sunday Telegraph gathered that the decision to expel him came from the very top and the APC national was briefed and those people were told what to do.
“They found that statement very offensive, to the party, to the national and even to Mr. President,” another source said.
Another party chief added: “When at the National body of the party was preparing for election, there was a gang up against the party in a congress some people held against the party and it was at that time that you also chose to say that your party is dying, the party under which you served as governor for 8 years, under which you served as minister for 4 years. To them he has not done well. That was why the decision to expel him was taken.
They said that was the final straw that broke the back of the camel. They said those people would not have been making those statements without Rauf giving them the go ahead to do it. The decision to expel him was taken. He was not expelled just because he pulled his caucus out of the party, but for the grievous statement they were making, demarketing the party, left right and centre at a time when everybody was preparing for election in the state and the national about two years’ time.”
Aregbesola gave a hint of his possible next move when he said that he and his Group were open and ready to go into alliance with any party of interest in the state.
However, those concerned about his political future, Sunday Telegraph gathered, have also reached out to Aregbesola, urging him not to join the PDP even if he is leaving APC.
It is obvious that his caucus will work for PDP in the coming election. The number of people has reached out to him, but he is still in dilemma.
Before matters got to a head, every attempt by Aregbesola to reach out to President Tinubu was very unsuccessful.
“He sent people. People spoke to him on his behalf. They did everything and nothing worked,” a mutual friend of both of them said, adding, “with the way things are going, Osun politics is going to be very interesting.”
“What is on the table is that people think that Oyetola would run. There are permutations that Senator Basiru Ajibola would run. That is the National secretary of the of the All Progressives Congress.
“ He is also oiling his gun to have a go at the governorship. Between him, Oyetola, one of them would run. But some people are asking Oyetola not to bother and he has not said anything.
The Source continued: “The Aregbesola Group is also in a quagmire. Because, as I talk to you, there are also people who believe that the best game this man can play is to hold on a bit for the presidency to rethink his position.
It is not only Aregbesola and his group that are in dilemma. Governor Ademola Adeleke too has come under pressure to defect to the APC.
The Source said: “They are doing everything. Whether it will translate to his leaving the party, is also on the card.
“Unfortunately for him, all the off-cycle elections that have been done of late – Edo, it did not go the way of PDP. That is because the PDP is a thoroughly divided party. Some of the people are telling him that if he wants to win his second term, he should cross over to the APC. We have an intriguing game going on in Osun State.
“The man that would ultimately play a decisive role is President Bola Tinubu. Senator Jibola Basiru is in the fore – front and already building a coalition.”
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