Osun 2022: Stop playing God, Group tells Aregbesola, others

A socio-political group , Osun Shall Rise Again, OSRA, has asked former Osun Governor and Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, to stop playing God over next year’s governorship poll in the State, saying God alone installs kings and determines the fate of people and not mere mortals.

Similarly, the group is calling for the immediate arrest of Aregbesola and a former Secretary to State Government, SSG, Moshood Adeoti, for alleged electoral fraud, just as it called on the leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, at the national level to caution the former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Lasun Yusuff, and Adeoti for publicly impugning on the integrity of the party by their recent public outbursts.

In a statement signed by the Chairman and Secretary of the group, Saheed Bakare and Lanre Akeju respectively, OSRA noted that the same set of people ganging up against the governor had done similar things in the past , especially in the build-up to the last primary election in the State and the incumbent governor triumphed, declaring that “we believe it will not be any different this time either.”

On why it is calling for the arrest of Aregbesola and SSG, the group said, “We watched and listened with amazement the revelation by the former SSG who said Aregbesola told him how he bought the re-run votes in 2018 for between N50,000 and N100,000 in seven polling units. Their arrest will help proper investigation and where they are found culpable, they should be tried and sentenced appropriately to serve as a deterrent to others.”

It further said the APC at the National level should immediately wield the big stick on the duo of Yusuff and Adeoti before they do further damage to the image and integrity of the party.

“Recall that Yusuff was the first person who came out in the open to allege that APC never won the 2018 election in the State. Now, the former SSG is saying Aregbesola told him votes were bought. We believe such characters have no business remaining members of the party. This is why we want them sanctioned.

“By their association openly with Aregbesola yesterday (Tuesday), they have shown their hands. But they should know that they are not God. So, they should stop playing God.

“As a former Deputy Speaker, what did Lasun Yusuff do for his people? The only Federal road he influenced is not completed till date , causing the people of the area avoidable trauma. Oyetola’s Administration just took over the completion of that road. So what will Yusuff be telling the people?

“Adeoti was SSG for eight years. He was very close to the then Governor Aregbesola. Yet, they couldn’t do anything on Osogbo-Iwo road until Oyetola, in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Works, began the rehabilitation of that road to make it motorable once more. The government is already in talks with the Federal Government to take it over so it can be fully reconstructed. What will Adeoti be telling the people as well.

“Najeem Salam was the Speaker of the State House of Assembly for eight years. He was very close to Aregbesola. He did Aregbesola’s bidding for eight years, yet they could not fix the road leading to Ejigbo, his home town. Today, Oyetola has not only fixed the road, he has also gone ahead to do the Ejigbo township roads. So, again, what will he be telling the people?

“Whereas we have witnessed a gale of endorsements for Oyetola’s candidature from the nine federal constituencies in the State, including where Yusuff, Adeoti and Salam hail from; and because these endorsements from our findings are spontaneous, we believe it is the reflection of the reality on the ground.

“We are aware that all those issues that reduced APC’s popularity and made it struggle to win the governorship in the build-up to the 2018 governorship poll have all been addressed by Oyetola and have endeared the party to the people once more.

“From abolition of half salary to reversal of single uniform and to revert to old names of the various schools among others, Oyetola has won the hearts of the people.

“The Governor cannot be faulted on the issue of performance and the popular and acceptable saying is that ‘ you don’t change a winning team.’ Thank God the Osun electorate are not deaf, dumb and blind. They are wiser today, ” the group said.