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Brothers at each other’s throat

As the acrimony between the two camps in the Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress APC) deepens, ADEOLU ADEYEMO writes on the dimensions the crisis has continued to assume, in spite of reconciliatory moves.

ALMOST every passing day, the gulf between two power blocs in the Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) appears widening. Each camp is uncompromising on the terms capable of restoring peace and team spirit in the political fraternity that once dominated the political space in Osun until July last year. The loss of the governorship election by the then Governor Adegboyega oyetola of his second term bid under the platform of the party aggravated the schism between him and his predecessor and immediate Minister of Interior, Mr Rauf Aregbesola. The division between them further worsened, following the poor performance of the party at the 2023 general election against the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Since then, the centre can no longer hold as the hope for reconciliation deems almost every hour.

To some of them, trouble within the Osun APC is strictly about who controls the structure of the party: Aregbesola or Oyetola. The former was left out of the electioneering team of APC before, during and after the 2022 governorship election in the state. He was accused of creating a faction in APC, fraternising with the PDP and forming a group called The Osun Progressives ( TOP). So, members of the Ileri Oluwa caucus comprising loyalists of Oyetola, claimed Aregbesola worked against the second term bid of Governor Oyetola by rallying support for PDP candidate, Senator Ademola Adeleke to succeed at the poll. The Aregbesola camp was accused of engaging in anti- party activities which should not go without consequences. After the emergence of Adeleke as governor, some allies of Aregbesola were appointed as commissioners, special advisers, local government chairmen and councilors. Thus, the die was cast.

That notwithstanding, both sides initiated a quasi peace move individually. For instance, Oyetola inaugurated an 11-man committee that would reposition and rebuild Osun APC structure with a charge to submit its report within eight weeks. The members were also given the liberty to co-opt any member of the party it deemed necessary in carrying out the assignment. The membership of the committee headed by a former Minister for Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, included a former Special Adviser to the Governor Oyetola on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Honourable Rasak Adeosun as Secretary); state APC treasurer, Honourable Femi Kujembola; Prince Kunle Ayantoye; Mudasiru Toogun; Ipoola Binuyo; Hon. Emmanuel Folorunsho; Akintunde Adegboye; Bade Falade; Idowu Falade; Gbenga Oladehinde and Olasunkanmi Akinola.T.. The entire their terms of reference of the committee were to review activities of the party in recent times; consider the aspect of party administration, i.e structure, funding, discipline and reconciliation; make recommendations for an ethical reward system in the state; create a blueprint for the future of the party in Osun State; propose templates for resolving existing or future grievances among party members and any other matter that can assist the growth and development of the party.

Oyetola, who inaugurated the committee, used the occasion to dissect the performance of the APC in the general election. He opined that their performance was a clear indication that the party remained the APC remained party to beat anytime in Osun. “Let me, at this juncture, appeal to our party members and supporters across the state not to allow themselves to be intimidated. They will want to harass you but do not be cowed. They will even want to provoke you. But do not allow yourself to be provoked,” he urged. In his own remark, the chairman of the committee, Professor Adewole, promised to ensure an inclusive party that offers every member a space to thrive and prosper and would create rooms for all, especially the youth, and build a great future for this dynamic party, adding that APC would emerged stronger after the exercise and “a credible pathway for reconciliation and rehabilitation of the party structure, administration and activities in the state.”

From TOP to Omoluabi Caucus

Weeks after, Aregbesola launched another group christened APC Omoluabi Caucus in Osun, which he said was a union of like-minds in the state. At the unveiling of the group in his country home, Ilesa on August 22, he explained that the members were drawn from each ward of the 332 wards in the state, with five members each from each of the local governments in the state. According to him, mission of the caucus was to renew the path in progressive politics as inherited from Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Chief Bola Ige, among other progressives who epitomise the Omoluabi ethos. He said APC loss at the elections in the state was due to the departure from the progressive ideals, describing his members as the genuine foundation members of the party. His words: “We are the genuine foundation members of the party and we have no intention of abandoning the ship of the party as it navigates the most turbulent waters. We are no sprinters, but long-distance runners and we will still be standing when all the fair-weathers have gone. We have been at this juncture before, after the 2003 election in which our party lost the stakes and was at its nadir in the state.”

Aregbesola also took a cursory look at the mixed fortunes of APC in recent times and concluded that lack of competence and discipline was the bane of the party. “Our party failed principally because of indiscipline and lack/loss of focus. This is manifested in the form of a lack of character and incompetence. Character is the mental and moral qualities required in an individual to occupy a certain office or perform certain tasks. Competence is the skill required to get a specific task done. It is bad when one of the two is absent, but it is always catastrophic when both are absent. It is beyond disputation how the absence of these virtues spelt doom for our party in the recent past.

“These virtues are integral to the Omoluabi ethos in the Yoruba belief system. When we were at the helm here, we not only lived this ethos, we made a conscious effort to revive and promote it among the generality of the people of the state. We should therefore consciously return to this path of rectitude and distinguish ourselves as Omoluabi in its most pristine form,” Aregbesola stated.

That the bubble finally burst last week despite the initial peace moves by the warring forces, according to some observers, was expected. The accusations and counter-accusations culminated in a wave of suspensions and expulsions of some party chieftains, especially those regarded as core loyalists of Aregbesola. The state APC wielded the big stick on Wednesday, expelling no fewer than 84 members for alleged anti- party activities. The state chairman, Sooko Tajudeen Lawal in a statement issued in Osogbo listed the name of the current Commissioner for Political Affairs and Inter-Government Affiliation, Hon. Biyi Odunlade as one of those expelled from the party based on the report of a disciplinary cCommittee set up to investigate the allegations against the affected members. He claimed that, “The Disciplinary Committee undertook a thorough and impartial review of the allegations and the findings were carefully deliberated upon by the State Executive Committee. After, a comprehensive assessment of the evidence and consideration of the committee’s recommendations, the State Executive Committee has taken the difficult yet necessary step of expelling the members that got involved in the act,” he alleged.

The dust over the action was yet to settle when the party took a similar stern step against 26 other members, including for top functionaries of government under the Aregbesola as governor. These consisted of a former Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Honourable Najeem Salami, former Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Alhaji Moshood Adeoti, ex- member of the National Assembly, Senator Mudasiru Hussain, as well as former chairman of APC in the state, Elder Adelowo Adebiyi, ex-Commissioner for Information, Mr. Adelani Baderinwa, ex-Commissioner for Commerce, Mr. Sikiru Ayedun, former, deputy Chief of Staff to the governor, Mr Gbenga Akano, former Commissioner for Land, Mr. Kunle Ige.

Who blinks first?

The development has apparently thrown spanner into the works as many party faithful appear to be at a crossroads. They are concerned that the crisis has continued to take weird twists at a time all hands should be on deck to rebuild the party, fortify its fold and serve as a veritable satellite, given the importance of the state to the administration at the centre. Other party leaders are worried that quite a number of major stakeholders in Osun APC, who ought to broker peace or call for ceasefire, are taciturn despite their awesome influence at the centre. Incidentally, the immediate past national secretary of APC, Dr Iyiola Omisore is from the state; ditto his successor, Senator Ajibola Basiru. With the crisis taken a curious shape shortly after Oyetola was made a minister by President Bola Tinubu, some party faithful are equally worried that the division in the party could widen unless the national chairman, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje wades in. Aregbesola was a commissioner for Works in Lagos State when Tinubu was the governor of the state. Both men ensured that Osun eventually became the ruling party in Osun, with Aregbesola on the driving seat. Therefore, there is a semblance of political affinity between the president and the two formers governor currently locked in a fierce battle for the soul of Osun. But who blinks first?

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