Osun West Bye-Election: Why we withdrew ticket from Hussain in 2015 ―Aregbesola

Against the backdrop of the forthcoming Osun West bye-election, Osun State governor, Mr Rauf Aregbesola, on Monday led a mega campaign for the All Progressive Congress (APC) candidate in the poll, Senator Mudashiru Hussain in Ejigbo, saying “we withdrew ticket from Hussain in 2015 to rescue Late Senator Isiaka Adeleke from political humiliaition.”

The governor, who asked the crowd to observe one minute silence in honour of Adeleke maintained that the decision to withdraw the party’s ticket and handed it over to him (Adeleke)  was deliberately made and unanimously agreed upon by the leadership of the party to restore ‎his dignity and integrity, having suffered humiliation from his erstwhile political friends.

Aregbesola frowned at what he described as unfounded speculations ‎over the party’s choice of Hussain, saying neither him nor any member of the party had done Adeleke’s family any harm.

He said the party asked Hussain, who was already nursing his second term ambition in 2015 to withdraw, having understood the degrees of humiliation meted out to late Senator Isiaka Adeleke ‎by the leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

‎According to Aregbesola, “it is regrettable and disheartening that some people especially disgruntled politicians are still spreading poisonous rumours to gain cheap political gains over the choice of Senator Mudashir Husain as the APC flag bearer.”

“It is pertinent to clear the air that, Husain was asked by the leadership of the APC in 2015 to withdraw his senate  ticket for late Senator Isiaka Adeleke who we felt was sober about the humiliation being meted out to him by his former party.

“We took this decision unanimously by the leaders of our party because at that time APC was the only party that could rescue late Senator Adeleke from humiliation. The action was taken to restore the already lost dignity, integrity and political relevance of late Adeleke who had been humiliated ‎in PDP.

“As we all know, Adeleke had already defected to APC and the only thing the party considered as honourable to compensate him and wipe off the degrees of humiliation being given him was to give him the senate ticket.

“To me, we wonder how harm has been done to anyone on this because what the party did was the best even despite the fact that Hussain felt cheated. We talked to him, begged him and he remained loyal to the party even to this present moment”, Aregbesola posited.

He said, ” It is important to let people know why our party resolved on Hussain  as its candidate because since we withdrew senate ticket from Senator Mudashiru Hussain we ha‎ve been making several efforts to give him particular political appointment but not actualised.

“While doing this, we never thought‎ of death to anyone neither we had a premonition that there would be a vacancy at the Osun West Senatorial District, but when God’s will took our Senator, then the party unanimously agreed to sponsor Hussain as a means to pay him for his extreme loyalty and commitment to the party.

“So, Husain was chosen not for political interest but for his loyalty, honesty and commitment to the party. We did not do this to hurt anyone neither did we take the action to inflict pains on anyone. It is strictly party decision and nothing anyone could do about it”, Aregbesola asserted.

While contending that the PDP had lost relevance in the Nigerian political terrain, he stressed that the party merely grandstands and even in the face of the most horrendous intimidation and harassment by the PDP led Federal Government in 2014, the APC was victorious.  Is it now that the PDP has been decapitated that they will now pose a threat to us in Osun? It is illogical.”