As the flamed embers of the recent Osun gubernatorial polls begin to cool off and things return to normal, some senior members of the victorious All Progressives Congress (APC) have begun to take stock and question the activities of certain political actors. According to sources close to leadership of the party in the state, certain individuals may have to answer for some of their dubious actions on the days leading to the election and their whereabouts on the day of the polls.
The elections were held under the watch of heavy security as over 70,000 officers from the military, police, State Security Service and the Civil Defense were deployed to the state. Arrests of leading members of the APC began days before the polls and continued until election morning. After the polls, the APC in a press statement alleged that over 150 member of the party, aides of the governor and his deputy and some commissioners were detained in order to give the Peoples Democratic Party undue advantage. However, it has been revealed that some of the members claiming to have been detained only pretended to be. There are others too who colluded with some members of the PDP to sabotage the undeniable victory of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola.
One of such is the brother of the Deputy Governor, Mrs. Titiloye Laoye Tomori, Mr. Sunday Laoye, popularly known as “T Mack”. He defected to the PDP a few weeks to the election and it is alleged that some APC stalwarts worked with him against Ogbeni Aregbesola in Osogbo.
Another is Segun Adebiyi, (Segun Abija). Even though he benefited from the APC government – being awarded four major contacts – he decamped to the PDP. His claim of marginalization has never been proven.
Honourable Rotimi Makinde is a federal lawmaker representing Ife Federal Constituency, and claimed to have been arrested on the morning of the election. However, his story has been found to be inconsistent because no resident of his environs saw him either the day before or of the election. Friends and associates have different versions of the story of his ‘arrest’ as told by him. A theory is that he struck a deal with the PDP candidate and went underground on the day of the polls.
There are also unfounded reports of three Osun lawmakers, meeting and sealing deals with Omisore in the days leading to the election. These politicians are those who know they have not done enough to get an extended stay in office and want to return at all cost, so the PDP found it easy to entice them. Desperate people like these must be removed from the system and replaced with committed democrats.
These are just a few of the ‘frenemies’ Ogbeni Aregbesola will have to keep an eye on and stay away from in his second term at the helm. The business of governance is too important to have obvious antagonists roaming the corridors of power.
It was the revered and oft quoted Chinese military strategist, Sun-Tzu, who said, “Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.” He said nothing about ‘frenemies.’ Ogbeni Aregbesola should do away with them now!
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Kolawole is an teacher and resident of Ede, State of Osun.
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Kolawole ‘s opinion is a bit confusing. Can a man for whose sake Omisore killed five people four years ago in Ile Ife turn around to become Omisore’s friend? That won’t be possible. The little I have heard from friends in Ife about Hon Makinde’s Poverty Alleviation Programme convinces me he is not of the stock of those who trade their conscience.