Former Minister of Interior Rauf Aregbesola alleged yesterday that he was prevented from coming to Osun State, where he was governor for eight years, by the administration that succeeded him.
He spoke in Osogbo at a Colloquium organised to welcome him home and mark his 66th birthday.
Aregbesola said: “I did not neglect any group or individual in Osun when I was in government. When I left in November 27, 2019, they prevented me from entering Osun for four years; they even hauled stones, insults, curses on me and my supporters. I came back home to Osun and we are well received, God should be praised. We came in through Ilesha to Osogbo, residents were praising me. The market women received me so well, they sang that ‘dangunro ose je’ (Dangunro can’t be chewed), and left their goods to follow me.
“We can’t have God and people, and still live in fear. If anybody has the two and still lives in fear, something is wrong with such individual. My mother’s maiden name is Aduroja (Wait to fight). As a grandchild of Aduroja, I can’t see war and flee. But religion and culture taught us to fight carefully as we age, that is why I am dropping war. Those that lied against us, those that pitched tent against us for survival sake and others, let us come together for reconciliation. I don’t have much to say but thanksgiving. My star will blaze again, God has assured me.”
However, Aregbesola visited the state many times during the administration of former Governor Adegboyega Oyetola which succeeded him.
Aregbesola’s supporters within the state All Progressives Congress (APC) formed The Osun Progressives (TOP), which worked against the party’s interest during the July 2022 governorship election won by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Ademola Adeleke, and the February 25 presidential election which APC candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, lost – the only state in the Southwest won by the PDP’s Atiku Abubakar.
Aregbesola did not vote in the elections.
He added yesterday that: “We are doing our best to ensure the party holds itself together and consolidate our strength for reflective mobilisation and advancement. All I know is that the party has the potential for greatness, but there is a need for consolidation, that is all I have been preaching and advocating. I believe those who are ready, who are willing to have the party properly positioned for political work will heed our word for effective consolidation.”