The crisis rocking the Osun State cahapter of All Progressive Congress (APC) turned bloody on Saturday when loyalists of Governor Adegboyega Oyetola and his former boss and Minister for Interior, Rauf Aregbesola clashed at the party’s secretariat during the hearing of petitions by the Ward Congress Appeal Committee.
Aregbesola handed over to Oyetola, his former close political associate on completion of his two terms of eight years in office as governor of the state. At the expiration of his tenure, he was appointed as a minister by President Muhammadu Buhari. Now the two former associates lead the two major factions – Ileri Oluwa and The Osun Progressives, (TOP) – into which the APC has broken in the state.
According to The Nation,those injured during the confusion that trailed the sounds of gunshots at the venue of the sitting where the ward congress Appeal Committee was receiving petitions from party members over the congress are Muyideen Ajetunmobi and Lukman Hassan of Osogbo Local Government Area.
The committee had said it received 32 petitions from 10 wards over last Saturday’s ward congress.
Party members had stormed the APC secretariat as early as 8am on Saturday to submit more petitions.
Tension rose at the secretariat when loyalists of Governor Oyetola and Aregbesola met for explanations on some of the petitions.
A brawl later ensued between them with one of Oyetola’s loyalists, Muyideen Ajetunmobi, injured on his head.
He reportedly alleged that some loyalists of Aregbesola, led by chairman of a group within the APC, The Osun Progressives (TOP), Elder Adelowo Adebiyi, led thugs into the premises to attack any member with the cap of Oyetola’s second term campaign.
But on the other hand, Adebiyi denied the allegation, saying he didn’t lead thugs to the venue.
He said he was invited to expatiate on a petition he submitted, alleging that the state government had already hired thugs against members submitting petitions to intimidate them.
According to reports, the clash went on between both camps with gunshots heard at the secretariat, forcing committee members to hurriedly conclude the sitting for the day.
Security operatives fired several bullets to scare hoodlums fomenting trouble and rescued the committee members.
Meanwhile Governor Oyetola has called for calm, urging members to give peace a chance and allow the ongoing appeal process to run its full course.
He directed security operatives to take charge of the party secretariat to prevent any further breakdown of law and order.
In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Ismail Omipidan, on Saturday, the Governor condemned what he termed the “unruly behaviour” exhibited by some aggrieved members of the party at the APC Secretariat in Osogbo, saying no sane society would condone any act of lawlessness.
