JUST IN: #Aregbesola Reconciles With Bola Ahmed #Tinubu? [VIDEOS]—-In videos trending in the media space, Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola has been spotted canvassing for Sanwo-Olu ahead of Lagos State Gubernatorial election slated for march 18th, 2023
It was once said that the 30-year-old connection between All Progressives Congress leader Bola Tinubu and Minister of the Interior Rauf Aregbesola was a match made in heaven.
Tinubu was the Social Democratic Party’s nominee for the Lagos-West senate seat. Yet, Aregbesola and Tinubu shared a political ideology, and they quickly developed a friendship that would eventually become a fraternity.
Tinubu, a senator at the time, was persecuted by the General Sani Abacha administration when the military junta controversially nullified the election of June 12, 1993, and he fled to exile until Abacha’s death in 1998.
In the run-up to the Lagos State elections in 1999, Aregbesola, as a campaign manager, launched a massive campaign across the state’s 20 local government areas, helping Tinubu to win the governorship election. Tinubu rewarded Aregbesola by appointing him the Commissioner for Works, the biggest portfolio in the state which also controls the largest budget.
The Oyetola Business
During the Osun State election in 2019, Tinubu urged that Oyetola, a political novice, be chosen as Aregbesola’s successor.
In addition to being his cousin, Oyetola was Tinubu’s business partner and had led a number of organizations thought to be under the control of the Lagos godfather, including Alpha Beta Consultancy, a company with the only authority to create income for the Lagos State Government.
Months after leaving office, Aregbesola was appointed as the Minister of Interior by President Muhammadu Buhari, forcing him to spend most of his time in Abuja. Oyetola discontinued some contracts awarded by Aregbesola. He also ensured that Tinubu ran the politics of the state often without Aregbesola’s input. In addition, many of Aregbesola’s core supporters were neglected by Oyetola.
Complaints made by Aregbesola to Tinubu were said to have been ignored as Tinubu took sides with his cousin, a development which infuriated Aregbesola’s camp.
Amid rumours that Aregbesola was nursing a Presidential ambition, the Governor’s Advisory Council in Lagos, which is led by Tinubu, ordered the dismantling of all political groups within the APC including the Mandate Group, Aregbesola’s base in Alimosho, Lagos State, which had helped Tinubu to win two governorship elections. Many in the party believed that the directive was targeted at Aregbesola’s group which was the strongest in the state.
Chance For Atonement
The surprising upsurge in Labour Party’s fortunes — even winning at Alimosho which is a stronghold of the APC — has led to series of meetings convened by Aregbesola between stakeholders.
This is in order to bolster the changes of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu who faces a huge fight retaining his seat with the LP enjoying massive support amongst the youths.
However, a source who spoke to Newsmen stated that the moves were a ploy by Aregbesola to get back into Tinubu’s good grace.
https://twitter.com/AdabanijaQomaru/status/1634998002984292352
“Aregbesola has met crucial stakeholders in Alimosho in order to ensure the party’s victory but making amends with Tinubu is the paramount objective,” the source revealed.
Whether these entreaties will be enough to get into the President-elect’s good books remain to be seen.
CREDIT: E-NIGERIA
