It’s Wicked To Declare Aregbesola ‘ Persona Non-Grata’ In Osun – Former Deputy Speaker

The crisis rocking the Osun Chapter of the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, took a new twist on Friday with the former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Lasun Yusuf, branding the state governor, Mr Adegboyega Oyetola as wicked for fighting the Minister of Interior, Mr Rauf Aregbesola, his predecessor.

The APC in the state has been divided as infighting over who controls the party machinery in the state has derailed its organisation towards next year governorship election. It has led to emergence of parallel executives with both Oyetola and Aregbesola leading each.

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Yusuf belongs to the minister’s faction, and vowed on Thursday that he will contest the next governorship election in the state despite warning that the state governor should be allowed to obtain the party’s primary ticket to go for his second term.

He said those fighting Aregbesola are wicked and selfish.

Yusuf spoke on the Rave FM talk show on Friday, the text of which was made available to THE WHISTLER.

He said the former Aregbesola sacrificed a lot to get the state back for the progressive party, hence, should not be shut out of the politics of the state.

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“In the quest of claiming Osun for progressive, Rauf Aregbesola did very well, he led from the front, he fought the battle together since November 2004 to 2010 when we were declared the winner. That man is a fantastic human being, whether we are on the same page or not, he fought me, we had our differences and I never blamed him, he did so well.

“Whoever declared Aregbesola persona non-granta is selfish, self-centred and wicked. We knew what we went through before we could get Osun state to the progressive fold, it was horrible”, he said.

While disclosing that he is not afraid of being rigged out during the primary election in February, he stressed his desire to become governor of the state.

“I dont mind if they rig the primary election in 2022, I want to be the governor of the state”, said the former lawmaker.

He admitted not having any personal issue with the incumbent governor, Mr Adegboyega Oyetola, but added that it will be difficult to join his political group because it lacks people of substance.

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“I don’t do groups in politics, I play politics. I don’t really see politicians in ilerioluwa, (Governor Oyetola’s group), but when you look at TOP you see real politicians there, those who actually fought the battle for Progressives, but I don’t belong to the two groups” he added.

The APC is enmeshed in serious crisis even as the governorship election drags closer.

The peace accord in the party broke down creating a situation that the ruling party supporters are afraid might affect its chances of retaining the state in 2022.

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