Interior minister Rauf Aregbesola has accused the national leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu of double standards in Osun state’s party affairs as it concerns the reelection of Governor Gboyega Oyetola.
Aregbesola alleged that Tinubu planned the failure of former Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to seek reelection in Lagos state with the party but same Tinubu does not want the same treatment dished out to his brother, Oyetola in Osun state.
The former Osun State governor stated this while addressing a group of party faithful in Ijebu-Jesha ahead of the party’s primaries slated for Saturday.
“That was how it was sometime in Lagos when a governor rejected by the party wanted to contest a second term. The party refused. It is the same today, and familiarity will not stop that from happening.”
While Oyetola enjoys the support of Tinubu, Aregbesola’s faction of the APC in Osun is kicking against his candidacy ahead of the July 16 governorship election.
WITHIN NIGERIA had reported that unknown gunmen on Monday attacked the convoy of Aregbesola during a roadshow he conducted in Osogbo, the Osun State capital.
Reacting to the incident, the commissioner for information and civic orientation, Funke Egbemode described the convoy of Aregbesola as an invasion of Osogbo, to forcibly continue “a long lost influence.”
“We have credible reports that some misguided cowards have invaded Osogbo, the Osun state capital, with armed thugs to foment trouble. These miscreants and their kingpin started shooting as they raced through the town,” Egbemode claimed.
“Their interest is simply to attempt to thwart the peace of the state and create fear in the minds of the good people of Osun counting on a long-lost influence.”
Oyetola’s government had warned that there “are no sacred cows” and “no one is above the law here regardless of their past glories or future aspirations.”
Egbemode warned that security agencies had been “well briefed about the activities of these mischief-makers, who have set themselves on a collision course with the law.”
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has contradicted the Nigeria Police Force’s claim that Aregbesola’s security escort recklessly fired gunshots to terrorise Osun residents.
NSCDC claimed that unknown hoodlums attacked the convoy of the ex-governor at about 6:40 p.m. around the Old Garage area in Osogbo.