Amidst tension in the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Osun State, chairman of one of the factions, Alhaji Rasak Salinsile, in this interview speaks on how Governor Gboyega Oyetola has deepened the crisis in the state and argued that APC would lose the July 16 governorship election should the party field the governor as its candidate. Excerpts:
Nigerians were alarmed at reports of gun attacks at the Oranmiyan House, Osogbo last week and the allegations that Governor Oyetola was behind it all. How did you come to that conclusion?
If Governor Oyetola’s close aides and appointees keep moving from one part of the state to another vowing that they would attack members of the same All Progressive Congress who do not agree with their own style and we start witnessing an increase in the spate of attacks, who else will then be responsible? The attack on Oranmiyan House last week was not the first, second, third or fourth. You should be surprised at the long list of cases of attacks on party members that have been perpetrated. On March 28, 2021, thugs attacked Aregbesola’s Personal Assistant, Mr Olateju Ishola while attending an event in Osogbo.
It was an open secret that those who carried out the attacks were people loyal to Governor Oyetola. Again, on August 14, 2021, some thugs attacked members of The Osun Progressives at APC Secretariat who had come to submit their petitions to the Congress Appeal Committee that was visiting the state at the time. On August 15, 2021, there was an attempt on the life of one of the leaders of the APC who is also opposed to Oyetola, Comrade Biyi Odunlade. On August 15, 2021, some hoodlums invaded the sitting of the appeal panel at the party secretariat where 2,517 members of the party brought petitions at the APC secretariat in Osogbo. It was an open thing that the attackers were even putting on Oyetola 4+4 caps.
Did you make a proper report of these cases to the right quarters?
No responsible organization or individual would leave such attacks without reporting to the appropriate security agencies. And that is why we have concluded that the Police Commissioner is biased. But that is not all. The attacks have continued unabated and it is as if the attackers have become more emboldened by the fact that there are no law enforcement agencies to bring them to book.
On September 4, 2021, thugs attacked APC members in Ede North while holding their meeting in the local government area. The same thing happened in Ile Ife on September 13, 2021 when thugs attacked APC members during a ward meeting. On October 16, 2021, two of our members were seriously injured when thugs attacked them during our own congress at the Ogo Oluwa area of the state capital. The attackers came with guns on November 18, 2021 during a meeting of our faction of the party at the Oranmiyan House.
They shot into the crowd but narrowly missed their targets and drove off. On February 1, 2022, another attack took place against APC members in Ìkìrun after thugs stormed the venue where the APC faction was holding its federal constituency tour meeting. The hoodlums had earlier come to destroy the canopies set up for the meeting but the people were not discouraged they still gathered for the meeting. Many of our members, especially old women, were beaten and injured.
The last incident was the February 3, 2022 attack on Oranmiyan House when they not only shot into the building, but also attempted to burn it down. I think their intention on that day before the people around the building mobilized to stop the fire, was to bring down the entire edifice. That was a campaign headquarters from where Aregbesola directed the Independent Campaigns for Oyetola’s election.
That same day, February 4, 2022, a billboard erected with the photo of the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, was set ablaze by hoodlums just hours after the attack on the Oranmiyan building. That same billboard had been vandalized twice earlier in 2021 when it was erected to mark the birthday of the former Governor. And till date, there has been no single attack on any of his loyalists.
How did your party get to this state in Osun?
I think that question should be directed at Governor Oyetola because it is only the Governor who can say what Aregbesola’s crime is. Don’t forget that his candidature was forced on Aregbesola and the entire party members in Osun in 2018. Many stalwarts of the party left as a result of that decision by the powers that be. Don’t forget that the rejection was so loud and so bad that many party members, including exco members resigned from the party even in his own town of Iragbiji.
This was because the people not only believed that it was a great injustice against the people of the West senatorial zone, they also felt that Oyetola did not possess the leadership qualities that could hold the APC together. I recall vividly one of the councilors from his state constituency who was shouting at the Government House on one particular day saying , “You will regret this action!” The guy kept shouting at the Government House that day to the extent that security men were asked to lead him out of the premises. Today, that young man has been proved to be prophetic. Oyetola has proved to be a major error for the party and those who even supported him.
Some leaders of the party and other well-meaning Nigerians are said to be making efforts to resolve the crisis. Are you saying things have gone beyond redemption?
No one from our camp will rule out redemption or resolution of the issues but with Oyetola as a possible candidate for any party, expect a resounding defeat. Don’t forget that with all the mighty powers and spread and popularity of APC in 2018, Oyetola managed to secure victory with less than 400 votes. When it is not a council chairmanship election! All efforts to ensure that the divisions he created as soon as he came into office are resolved have proved abortive. So, with a united APC in 2018 and Oyetola was almost losing the election to an equally unacceptable candidate from the PDP, you can imagine what fate awaits APC when he has succeeded in dividing the party into two.
But even in the two camps of the APC, it is clear to all that The Osun Progressive (TOP) faction has the majority of the party members. Conveniently, I can tell you that our faction of the APC in Osun accounts for no less than 65%. I agree that he has many of the elected office holders with him. But wait to see what will happen. Many of the elected officials too don’t want to lose their position. So, it is a matter of time before you see the true state of the support which Oyetola claims to have. The elected officials who appear to be queuing behind him for camera purposes now know where their hearts truly belong.
What is the place of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Chief Bisi Akande here if the crisis could fester to this level?
I don’t want to talk about Asiwaju Tinubu and Chief Akande in all of these. Both are our leaders and we respect them. When you hear Aregbesola talk about these two, and especially Tinubu, you would know the only thing he has not done is to worship him like God. And all his life, he would tell you that Asiwaju remains his leader. But if a man is this loyal to you and all of these are happening, then, I don’t know whether people won’t question the essence of such loyalty. When Aregbesola was performing wonders in education, infrastructure, innovative job creation through youths empowerment, and security, our leader, Tinubu was all over the places singing Aregbesola’s praises. I recall the day Opon Imo (Tablet of Knowledge) was launched in Ilesa. Asiwaju Tinubu could not hide his joy.
He praised Aregbesola to high heavens and he claimed the glory that one of his boys was representing the progressive tendency very well. That Tablet of Knowledge, introduced to make the children of the poor also have knowledge of the use of ICT in educational pursuit, is another sad story today. Ask Governor Oyetola what has happened to that project. And who is the loser? Osun people and taxpayers of course! Asiwaju became proud of Aregbesola over those gigantic schools and spoke glowingly of him.
Today, the same schools are being left to decay through lack of maintenance. The first thing Oyetola did after coming to office was to stop the facility managers, the Omoluabi Educational Services that was maintaining those schools. Aregbesola developed a concept that would ensure proper maintenance of the education infrastructure by ensuring that damages to chairs, toilets, libraries, sports facilities etc were not the responsibilities of teachers or principals so they could concentrate on teaching. It was this Omoluabi Educational Services that had those responsibilities.
You asked them to stop the maintenance from 2019 and in 2021, you started telling the whole world the schools were breaking down and were poorly built. And the contractors were reporting to you! You left facilities used by thousands of students everyday for two years and more and you expect no depreciation? And I am sure our leaders, Asiwaju and Baba Akande have all seen these reversals of the progress we made under Aregbesola. So, if they prefer not to consider these actions of Oyetola as unacceptable and not in the interests of the generality of the people of Osun, it is not me that will say anything about them.
Where do these leave your party in the coming election?
Are the people not watching? They even forget that the people of Osun are not only those who belong to either the PDP or APC. They have forgotten that the state is made of residents who don’t even belong to any political party but take decisions how to vote based on what they see are the impact of a political party on their lives. Aregbesola came, started giving children in elementary schools food every day. He built befitting schools you would find in UK and US for their children.
He found temporary jobs for those who graduated 10 years with no jobs. He looked at Osogbo the state capital and realised there were no recreational facilities. He went ahead to spend money to give what we call Nelson Mandela Freedom Park Osogbo, a very green area with gardens for families.
Today, go to that park, it has returned to the ghetto that it was before Aregbesola made it like one of the best parks in the South-West of Nigeria. So, you think families using these before won’t ask questions why everything is going down under Oyetola?
