Published By News Editor
The Osun State All Progressives Congress (APC), holds its party primaries today, with the incumbent Governor Gboyega Oyetola, in a battle of his life as he slugs it out with his predecessor and Minister of Interior Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola.
The duo have enjoyed a frosty relationship in the last three years and finally blew open in the last one week when the Minister took the Governor to the cleaners, and pointedly told him he would work against his emergence at the primaries.
The APC decided to test the grounds by using the direct primaries option on Saturday.
Though it is not clear how the Minister intends to actualize his threat, since he has been fenced out as Oyetola’s men are in full control of the party machinery in the state.
Aregbesola had alleged that Oyetola has taken steps to destroy his legacies in government and vowed to use the primaries to tell his successor that he is still in control in the state.
He said for over two years, he had been begging Governor Oyetola to forget the past and move on. He said he had warned him not to allow the whole world mock them if they begin to fight dirty in the open but since the governor is bent on destroying him, he had no choice than to come out to protect his skin.
Aregbesola also launched a blistering attack on the national leader of the APC Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and former Interim National Chairman , Chief Bisi Akande.
Though Oyetola has refused to directly respond to Aregbesola’s tantrums, the people of Osun seem to have rose in his defence assuring him that they would return him to office.
At the Palace of the Owa Obokun of Ijeshaland during the week, the traditional monarch assured Oyetola that the entire Ijesha people are ready to vote for his return if he succeeds and win the party’s ticket on Saturday.
Oyetola has run into stormy waters by upturning virtually all the policies and programmes of the Aregbesola government. Among others the Oyetola administration has reversed the policy on education and has put a stop to the skewed slary structure by returning to paying all workers their full salary, a step that has enjoyed huge goodwill among the people of the state.
With the adoption of direct primaries, all APC party members are expected to come out on Saturday to vote for their preferred candidate to fly the party’s flag and use its ticket in the governorship election slated to take place later in the year.
