Aregbesola attacks Tinubu, Akande, says APC presidential aspirant betrayed him.
Rauf Aregbesola, minister of Interior, on Monday publicly attacked his former godfather Bola Tinubu and accused him of betrayal.
He spoke at a rally in Ijebu Jesa, Osun state in praparation for governorship primary on Saturday.
He said he trusted the All Progressives Congress presidential aspirant, and former governor of the state, Bisi Akande, but they betrayed him.
He accused them of imposing the governor of the state, Gboyega Oyetola, on the people, vowing that he would not be re-elected.
Aregbesola said, “Only God can terrify us, not man. Go and tell them wherever they are, we own this party. We own this Afenifere group. We own this people-loving group started by our patriarchs — (Obafemi) Awolowo and Bola Ige. This is Elder Akande’s group before he temporarily left us. This is our party. Stop calling yourself a factional group; you are not a faction; you are the authentic APC.”
“We came back home to reposition our party to where it was meant to be because we followed the leading of our leader that we thought was a noble and reliable fellow. We followed him (Tinubu) dutifully with all sense of loyalty. Some people even thought that we were no longer Muslims because of how we cooperated with him. We dealt with him without treachery but we never knew he planned evil for us. We exalted him beyond his status and he turned himself to a god over us and we had sworn to ridicule anyone who compare himself to God. God has no competitor; He is enough to be God.
“We built this party on perseverance as well as sweat and blood. We lost a lot of people in this struggle but eventually, we came into government on November 27, 2010. We were in government for eight years and governed according to the measure of God’s grace, everybody in Osun enjoyed our tenure.”
“When he (Tinubu) will hand over the present governor to me around July of 2018, he (Tinubu) declared that he (Oyetola) will succeed me and continue my good works. That was what he told me. He knows he has not done so if he is listening now and he has failed to call my successor to order,” the minister protested.
“That was how it was in Lagos at a time; a governor derailed and the party members unseated him using the ballot boxes. As it was in Lagos yesterday, so shall it be in Osun today. What is good for the goose is also good for the gander,” he said.
Aregbesola said: “Anyone who was with us when we started the journey to reclaim Osun for the progressives in 2004 would know we fought very hard for this victory we have today. We went through several challenges then but, through thick and thin, we were able to succeed and this time around, we will succeed.
“We are ready to allow a free flow of the democratic process to interplay here. We are not those who play God. We are resolute about reclaiming our party from those who think they can continue to abuse our legacies or even want us to be second fiddles in the party we worked and laboured for. This is our pride and we will sustain it.
“Let me tell you that God is with us. I urge all our supporters to come out and back us. Do not have any fears. We are the authentic APC in Osun. If in Lagos, the governor did not do well and the party decided not to return him for a second term, why can’t it be so in Osun? They know what they have done to us is bad and they want to continue the impunity. We will not accept it.
