The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has accused President Bola Tinubu of attempt to demonise former Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, and some Yoruba leaders in the opposition coalition party.
In what he described as undemocratic and disgraceful, the ADC National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, in a statement issued on Monday, condemned the alleged plot by Tinubu to mobilise the southwest against Aregbesola.
Recall that Aregbesola, a former ally to the President, had severed ties with him with his withdrawal from the All Progressives Congress (APC) and defection to the ADC where he was appointed as the interim National Secretary of the party.
The development has since saw Aregbeola come under heavy criticism with some labelling him a traitor.
However, Abdullahi maintained that the former Minister of Interior is simply exercising his democratic rights as he recounted how Tinubu had similarly antagonised the administration of former President, Olusegun Obasanjo.
The ADC spokesperson noted that no one challenged Obasanjo more ferociously than Tinubu.
He further noted his clash with the Afenifere socio-cultural group, stressing that the President is also receiving same measure of his actions.
Abdullahi claimed that the attacks on Aregbesola is borne out of Tinubu’s fear of the ex-Osun governor.
He however maintained that Aregebsola remain undeterred while calling on the immediate end to the act of intolerance and assault of freedom allegedly displayed by the Tinubu-led administration.
The statement read; “It is incredible to see the zeal with which some President BAT supporters are trying to mobilise the Yoruba and Southwest people against Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola for merely exercising his democratic rights and choosing to stand with the Nigerian people. This is sheer perfidy and should be condemned.
“In the aftermath of the June 12 election crisis, Nigerians, in an unprecedented act of political consensus, thought that the best way to heal the country and strengthen national unity was to support a Yoruba man to become President. Nigerians overwhelmingly voted for President Obasanjo.
“No one challenged Obasanjo and his Federal Government more vociferously than BAT, who almost made Lagos State an alternative source of power—rightly so.
“Yet, no one accused BAT of treachery against the Yoruba race, even when he antagonised Afenifere, the Yoruba socio-cultural group. We therefore have strong doubts that Asiwaju would approve of what is being done in his name today.
“Attempts to demonise Aregbesola and other Yoruba leaders in the opposition are undemocratic and disgraceful. They are also inimical to the long-term political interests of the Yoruba people.
“President BAT is not the Southwest, and the Southwest is not him.
“The impression one gets is that Tinubu’s people are so afraid of Aregbesola that they are throwing everything at him—even recruiting Sunday Igboho, a self-declared ethnic warlord, into the fight.
“But the narrative they are creating is that tribal and personal loyalty is more important to the Yoruba than the national interest.
“This is wrong and dangerous. Ogbeni Aregbesola is immensely capable of fighting his own battles. But as a party, we condemn this act of intolerance and assault on freedom. It must cease immediately.”
