Plot to create
Tinubu, Aregbesola rift will fail- Pan Yoruba group
Samuel Ogunsona
A Pan Yoruba group has dismissed cliams that All Progressives Congress, (APC) National Leader Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu and the Minister of Interior Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola are at each other’s throat.
A statement issued by Oodua Nationalist Coalition, (ONAC) on Tuesday described the report as a plot by enemies of the progressives to fan embers of discord and set supporters of the two politicians against each other.
“We are aware of a grand plan to set Asiwaji Tinubu and Aregbesola against each other. The recent report is a sponsored propaganda by those troubled and tormented by the unity of the progressive forces and the fact that both Asiwaju and his political soulmate and comrade, Aregbesola are the engine rooms of power and politics in Yorubaland and that the tendency represented by the two leaders is spreading across Nigeria like a wild fire to the shock of their adversaries. No responsible journalist, except a paid agent will write such a report that lacks no basis in reality and fact”, David Okeowo, the ONAC Deputy Publicity Secretary said in a statement issued on Tuesday.
ONAC said it is in touch with Tinubu and Aregbesola adding that the two are ‘blood bound’ like Canada and Brittain or China and North Korea.
ONAC said the report linking the dissolution of Justice Forum and Mandate with a feud between Tinubu and Aregbesola is a continuation of the immaginary war started by Mallam El Rufai adding that the latest medium that reported the phantom dispute is notorious for promoting the interests of reactionary political forces.
“El Rufai represents a tendency, to fuel crisis in the South West. He detests having a role model and rallying point like Asiwaju or Aregbesola in the South West. Its nothing but politics of bitterness and divide and rule tactics. The truth is that El Rufai neither likes Asiwaju nor Aregbesola but would rather seek a bitter rivalry between the two leading Yoruba politicians so as to mock, deride and feast on Yoruba nation.
ONAC said Aregbesola admits Asiwaju as his leader and that efforts to distrupt the affection between the two will fail.
“El Rufai’s battle is neither against Tinubu nor Aregbesola but against the progressives which the two represent.
“The strategy is to divide the Yoruba Nation so as to create a situation where Yoruba politicians will scramble for relevance at the feet of El Rufai and his Taliban political heritage.”
He said El Rufai and his agents in the media have plotted for over 10 years to bring Asiwaju down but that all efforts have failed adding that there were plans to ensure Aregbesola decamps from the Asiwaju group in other for El Rufai to be able to fight the two individually instead of contending with the two formidable forces at the same time.
‘Aregbesola is a man of principle. He does not betray his leaders. He is a man of God. He is upright and honest. Anybody who thinks he can use him is living in a fool’s paradice. Asiwaju and Aregbesola have a destiny with politics in Nigeria. No external force from El Rufai and his rookies can destroy them.”
The group said claims that Aregbesola wishes to contest the 2023 Presidential election is a shameful lie that cannot stand the test of the least empirical proof.