Aregbesola has changed the game, says Tinubu

Senator Bola Tinubu, national leader, All Progressives Congress (APC), has congratulated Governor Rauf Aregbesola for changing the face of politics in Nigeria. In a congratulatory message to Aregbesola and the people of Osun state on their victory on 9 August election, Tinubu praised Aregbesola for standing firm in the face of state-sponsored terror against his person, his government and the people of Osun State.

“Your victory is the victory of good leadership over a leadership with tyrannical tendencies,” Tinubu said, adding that, “You and the people of the state of Osun have sent a clear and unambiguous message to all usurpers and individuals who exploit power to abuse and deny the people their rights. You have bruised the head of tyranny. We have heard you and we take heed as a party, the APC and Nigerians.

The former Lagos state governor added that: “The lessons from Osun abide. We should never take for granted what we have else the gangsters in power will forcefully take it from us.

“What happened in Osun was abominable. The massing of the military and over sixty thousand security men to intimidate and harass a peaceful people is the sign of an unsecured government and party. It is a pre-condition to manipulate and perpetrate electoral fraud. Under any democracy, there can be no moral or political justification for the security armada against our party leaders and followers in Osun. The implications for our democracy foretells of dire consequences.”

“But the APC and its vast membership nation wide will not sit idly by and allow a band of gangsters determine our future simply because they happen to be in privileged positions. Osun has demonstrated that it is possible to confront them.

Tinubu said the party accepted the challenge flung at it and braved the storm. “Aregbesola runs a government that places primacy on a social welfare philosophy that pursues vigorously the vision of socio-economic empowerment and developmental ethos rooted in the progressive orientation of the Yoruba nation. The people of Osun are lucky to have him as their governor and for a time such as this.”

“Our Osun victory reignites and marks the next phase of taking Nigeria back. Osun re-energizes us to the common good, a commitment to the people and an unbending commitment to ensure Nigeria is governed better.”