The last few months have not been easy for the former Osun State Governor and the immediate past Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola. He’s been struggling to find his feet in the state he governed a few years ago, as governor.
He has lost his political influence since he departed the mandate group in Lagos. He has also lost relevance in Osun politics when he failed to support the government of Oyetola as Osun Governor. But some people even said he lost it when he pitched his tent with and supported Governor Ademola Adeleke against Oyetola’s second-term bid. These are many of Aregbesola’s misdeeds that have affected him politically, from what we found out from a top APC Chieftain in Osun, when City People visited the state a week ago.
Last month, there was a poster of Omoluabi Progressive Caucus mounted at Ogbeni Rauf Aregbe’s Campaign Office in Osogbo, which some group of people felt could be a fake news or a social media banter, but it is actually real. City People confirmed it and the poster is still there.
It is still hanging at the campaign office which is domiciled inside the four-storey building at Ayinke Towers, rechristened Oranmiyan House located along the Gbongan-Ibadan road in Osogbo, the state capital. The highrise building which served as Aregbesola’s campaign office and later the office of The Osun Progressives, TOP, before its dissolution in 2022.
The building which wore the colours of APC with many poles bearing flags of the party and the National flags adorning its frontage, has now worn a new look. The building had the photo and identity of APC and the big photos of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Bisi Akande and the ex-President Muhammadu Buhari but it has now been removed on the building and has been replaced with an equally large size images of the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the late Chief Bola Ige and with the former Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola’s picture inserted in the middle.
The Omoluabi Progressive Caucus has been inserted, replacing the APC logo on the big photo. According to our sources; one of the reasons why this is coming at this time is because the preparations are being set in motion for the 2026 gubernatorial election in the state. ‘Aregbe wants to come back with full force and assert himself. He wants to come back with his own candidate and fight to put him in power. He feels he’s been used and dumped in Lagos but sees Osun as his base and he wants to do everything to reclaim the state and be in control of things in the state”, one of the sources said.
In the last few months, Ogbeni Aregbe has been going round the state to reawake some of his structures and allies. He’s been telling them his vision and what they need to do differently. In the light of this, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State has said that it has reported the various anti-party activities of the former Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola to the National Executive Committee of the party. The party’s Secretary, Kamorudeen Alao, disclosed this to newsmen after a stakeholders meeting held at the party secretariat in Osogbo.
Alao asserted that Aregbesola’s action has shown that he is no longer with the party in the state but due to his status, his case can only be dealt with at the national Secretariat level. He noted that the former governor’s anti-party activities are distracting the party in the state, hence, he was reported to ensure decorum. According to him, “Rauf Aregbesola as far as we are concerned in Osun APC, is no more a member of the party in the State.
“We have taken steps three times to notify the National Secretariat that Aregbesola is giving us distractions in APC in the state and it behoves the party at the national level to do the needful in dealing with him because he is a national figure. I know, soonest that the national leadership will act on our report”.,
While reading the communique after the meeting, the State Chairman, Tajudeen Lawal, urged members of the party to steer clear of any membership registration by any group in the state, saying the party would roll out its membership registration next week in line with the directive of the national secretariat.
In view of this, the former Minister is determined to intensify his effort to making sure he comes back into the scheme of things, especially in Osun politics. One of our sources told us that several committee have been set up. And top grassroot politicians have also been contacted about his Omoluabi Progressive Group project, which will have a big say in the 2026 governorship election in the state.
–Isaac Abimbade
