17th February, 2022
By Victor Adeoti/Ikire
Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, the former governor of Osun and current Minister of Interior, on Thursday said he has taken his case against Governor Gboyega Oyetola to God.
But a spokesman for Oyetola dismissed Aregbesola’s rant, saying he is not God.
“I told God about it. Those we assisted are now against us and we have reported them to God. He (Oyetola) will not return for second term.
“Even if Bola Ige comes back to this earth, he will join us,” Aregbesola said in Ikire, as he doubled down on his campaign against the candidacy of Oyetola.
He said Saturday’s primary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) would determine Oyetola’s fate in office.
Aregbesola has declared his support for the immediate past Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Moshood Adeoti, as his preferred candidate to fly the party’s ticket.
Oyetola, on his part, is seeking to win the party’s ticket to actualise his second-term bid, and moves in the camps of the two leaders have heightened tensions in the state.
Aregbesola, who spoke in Yoruba, said Oyetola had been in battle with him since assumption of office.
“Saturday’s primary election will determine his fate. The party has already said that we should conduct election after four years.
“I campaigned passionately for him under the rain, but he is now my enemy. I begged him for two years and even sent people to him but he refused. Everything we did together for eight years, he destroyed.
But the Chief Press Secretary to Gov. Oyetola, Ismail Omipidan, said Aregbesola is not God and cannot determine the fate of his principal.
Omipidan said that his principal had absolute faith in God and the people of Osun, adding that in the last three years plus, the people can tell the difference in terms of responsible and responsive governance and politics.
“The general belief among most Africans that a man’s life is preordained and ruled by God, has continued to play out in the political trajectory of Oyetola.
“From 2011 when he was appointed Chief of Staff to 2018 when, against all odds, he emerged, first as the candidate of the APC, and later, Governor of the State, at a time when many thought it was all over for him, it was obvious that he was on a divine political course.
“My Principal has absolute faith in God and the people of Osun. In these last three years plus, the people can tell the difference in terms of responsible and responsive governance and politics.
“Therefore, it is God and Osun people that will determine Oyetola’s fate, not an individual trying to play God,” Omipidan said.