Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adyemi, Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregebsola and Ooni of Ife, Oba Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi
By Ayo Kehinde
Following the ongoing supremacy battle between Minister of Internal Affairs and former governor of Osun State, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesol, and National Leader of the governing All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, prominent leaders of Yoruba race met on Tuesday March 1, 2022, in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital to resolve the lingering strained relationship between two prominent Yoruba political leaders.
The meeting, which held at a private residence of the Alaafin of Oyo in Ibadan, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi lasted about two hours.
In attendance at the meeting beside the Alaafin of Oyo, were the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi and Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola. The meeting was a a first step towards finding a lasting reconciliation between the two.
After consultations, the leaders agreed to move to the next stage of the meeting which will be held at a later date.
The quarrel between Aregbesola and Tinubu reverberated in Osun State a fortnight ago before the conduct of the APC governorship primary, ahead of the July governor ship election in the state.
Aregbesola’s group, The Osun Progressives, TOP, which had accused Governor Gboyega Oyetola of sidelining the former governor’s loyalists and ‘destroying’ his legacy projects confronted the governor with their candidate for the primary, Adeoti, ex-Secretary to government.
Though Adeoti came a distant second to the governor in the result of the primary, the cold war between the Minister and Aswiwaju continued with the protest spilling into Alimosho Local Government area of Lagos State last week where Aregbesola, together with former Deputy Governor of the state and current Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on SDG, Mrs Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, maintain control.
The protesters carried a coffin in which they claimed the Minister’s effigy would be buried. But the Minister replied that they were wasting their time as a Muslim, which he is, are not buried in coffins.
The Yoruba leaders believe that the quarrel between the duo might affect the race given the long-time relationship between them and other associates.
