*Q: Honourable, 2022 still hurts for many in Osun APC. What really happened?*
*A:* Politics is brutal. Especially in Osun State. The goat that bites is often the one you fed with your own corn. For those of us who know what really happened, 2022 still hurts. The popular narrative says Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola lost to Senator Ademola Adeleke because PDP was more popular. No. That is a lie wrapped in agbada. _Our leader_, Alhaji Oyetola, was betrayed. And he did not deserve the woes that befell our party. _Eni a fe l’omo o jo_. The child you love does not resemble you. But the one you raised, fed, and clothed with your last wrapper should not be the one to strip you naked in the market square.
*Q: But APC was the ruling party. How did it get so bad before Oyetola?*
*A:* Let us tell the truth. Before _our leader_ came to contest in 2018, the party’s fortune was down the drain in Osun West Senatorial District. The party had lost goodwill. The clearest proof was the Ife Central State Constituency bye-election that involved Hon. Tilewa Sijuade. In that election, Hon. Ayodele Fanibe, who brought Accord Party to Osun State, beat APC to 3rd place in less than three months. We were not just defeated, we were humiliated. Oyetola was not in power then. That defeat was what made many of us admire Ayodele Fanibe’s political sagacity. I personally had to woo him. APC was already a 3rd force in its own stronghold, eating from the floor while others dined at the table. _Our leader_, who faces undue castigation today, was not even in the picture then. He does not deserve the blame for those early woes. He should be celebrated. He met APC in the ICU, oxygen gone, pulse faint, and changed the tides. He stabilized the state, paid salaries without borrowing, built infrastructure, and gave APC four years of dignified governance. He did the impossible: he made APC electable again in 2022. _A kii fi oju kan orun, ka tun fi oju kan aye_. You cannot look to heaven and earth at the same time. _Our leader_ chose governance over grandstanding.
*Q: You do not win Osun by accident. What did Oyetola get right?*
*A:* _Our leader_ knows, you do not win Osun by accident. Even the tortoise knows that slow and steady can win the race if the hare sleeps. The betrayers were all awake and dining with him. His emergence as governor showed that the people were ready for change, and he steered that wave with wisdom. That must be acknowledged. In politics, as in life, _eni to ba mo ona, ko ni sina_. He knew the road. Sadly, he journeyed along with too many who wore masks.
*Q: So why did Oyetola lose if he performed?*
*A:* Yet he lost 2022 not because he failed, but because of undue complacency and lack of patriotism from some elements in the then federal government. It was not ordinary negligence. It was political cataract - they saw but chose to be blind. The complacency was partly to ensure they weakened Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s chances, to check his dominance and ambition ahead of the 2023 presidential election. Osun was seen as Tinubu’s stronghold. So allowing APC to lose Osun in 2022 was a political strategy by those who feared his rising profile. They cut the nose to spite the face. _Our leader_ became the casualty of a bigger chess game. His loyalty to Tinubu, which they targeted, was treated as a sin, and the hostility was damned too heavy. The ram was killed to appease gods that never asked for blood.
*Q: You said the party was broken before the election. Explain.*
*A:* Before his own battle in 2022, damage had already been done. The uncelebrated heroes of 2018 - the men and women who stood in the rain, who funded the party from their pockets, who delivered their wards under fire - were crying till 2022. They were abandoned, unpaid unrewarded and unrecognized after victory. _A ki fi eni ti o ba ni soro pa eni ti o ba ni la_. You don’t use the poor to kill the rich. But the system used the loyal to elevate the disloyal. Worse still, the hijackers of the primary elections that produced several candidates for the 2023 elections, ahead of his own election, made a mess of it all. There were several protests. They imposed candidates, sold tickets, and insulted loyal party men. People purchased forms with 20 million naira, 10 million naira and 5 million naira. Protests spread across the state. He inherited a broken party with deep wounds and went into that election with a divided house. The structure failed him. You cannot win a war with soldiers whose hearts were broken before the battle. He was misled, and we witnessed the progressive camp change its style for the first time. A general without a united army is limited, no matter his title.
*Q: Many attributed the misfortune of 2022 to the imbroglio between Oyetola and Aregbesola. What's your reaction?*
*A:* It is a topic I would continue to ignore and I consider it too sensitive for me to dabble into. In actual fact, I have vowed not to say a word publicly on Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola. I owe him a lot of respect and this is my determination I intend to keep. _Ti omode ba subu, a wo iwaju. Ti agba ba subu, a wo eyin_. When a child falls, he looks ahead. When an elder falls, he looks back. Some matters are for history, not for headlines. Let's move on please.
*Q: Were security agencies complicit?*
*A:* Another betrayal came from some security agencies. The conduct of Police, DSS, and even the INEC REC at the time suggested they had taken sides. APC agents were harassed. Opposition strongholds were protected. Flashpoints were ignored. This was not incompetence. This was internal sabotage from Abuja. When the umpire enters the field for one team, the match is already lost before kickoff. _Agbo ile ki i je ki alejo san wo_. The house ram does not allow a stranger to thrive. But this time, the house ram opened the gate for thieves.
*Q: You called Accord Party a “special purpose vehicle”. For 2026 too?*
*A:* The most painful betrayal came from inside. Some insiders milked the goodwill of _our leader_ to pave way for their selfish desires. They ate his food, drank his wine, and dug his grave with the spoon. Commissioners, party executives, and so-called leaders from Central and East collected mobilization funds but worked against APC on election day. Today, Accord Party has become the special purpose vehicle for this next sabotage. It is throwing money here and there, well-funded and empowered to divide APC votes, especially in Osun East and parts of Central. The plan was simple: Let APC lose so they can control the party structure after, and let Tinubu’s home base look weak before 2023/2027. They sold the father to buy a coffin. To the Accord Party, I would like to warn them of strange bedfellows. If the ship can forget the captain who kept it afloat during the storm, then no one is safe with new passengers. When the lizard of the homestead falls into the pot of soup, it is the cook who will be blamed. Accord, shine your eyes. _Ti ina o ba tan lori orule, alangba a ko mo pe ogiri ni o le gun_. If fire doesn’t burn the roof, the lizard won’t know the wall is climbable.
*Q: How personal was this betrayal for Oyetola?*
*A:* He lost 2022 because he believed in the good in men. He trusted those he thought were friends and loyalists. _Omo ti a bi, o soro ka mo inu re_. The child you birth, you still don’t know his heart. He elevated people who are out against him today. They actually forget how some of them would have gone to oblivion but for this same Oyetola. He resurrected their political careers. He gave them relevance. And they paid him back with betrayal. Today I wept to watch how many former men of his cabinet climbed the podium to dance with the one they once called "olodo" dullard. _Eni to ba j’ounje inu re, ki o ye e wo_. He who eats from your pot should watch his ways. If we go by the marginal loss in 2022, about 25,000 votes, it was a figure below the target expected in some areas and doable for many he considered core loyalists. Ten votes per unit from those he fed would have won it. The elephant was killed by ants he fed with sugar. People can actually change camp, no big deal and it’s not a new attitude of some politicians. But castigating and being rude, and to murder history to pull down a benefactor, is a factor I cannot stand. That is not politics. That is wickedness. Honestly, I begin to learn how terrible human beings can be. I remember a movie produced by me, _Eniyan Lo Buruju_ - human beings are the worst creature. _“Ore ti o ba di ota, lati ojo kini ni ota.”_ The friend who turns to enemy was an enemy from day one. _A kii dupe lodo elomiran ki a tun so pe owo re dun_. You don’t thank someone and then say his money is bitter.
*Q: If Oyetola is not running in 2026, who can heal these wounds and unite APC? Many are mentioning Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji.*
*A:* _Bi a ba n ba agba wi, a mo bi a se n ba omo wi_. If we know how to talk to an elder, we should know how to talk to a child. Healing requires a man who understands both the wounds and the medicine. Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji, AMBO, is not a stranger to loyalty or sacrifice. He was there when _our leader_ met APC in the ICU. As Commissioner for Finance, he held the treasury with clean hands when others came with baskets. He paid salaries without borrowing, managed a broke state, and never fed from the pot he was asked to guard. _A ki i fi ikanju di olowo_. You don’t become rich in a hurry. Oyebamiji’s wealth is his character. The same betrayers who ate _our leader’s_ food and dug his grave cannot stand before AMBO, because he knows where the spoons are buried. He is not a political 419. He is a technocrat who became a progressive by conviction, not convenience. If APC wants to reward loyalty and punish betrayal, if we want to say “never again” to 2022, then we need a man who stood when others sold out. _Agba ti o je aje, omo re a je iyafin_. The elder who eats witches, his child will eat sorcerers. _Our leader’s_ best legacy will be a successor who cannot be bought. AMBO is not coming to learn on the job. He ran the engine room for four years. He knows the leakages, the saboteurs, and the patriots. The heroes of 2018 who were unpaid unrewarded will not cry under him. _Oni t’o ba mo owo we, yoo ba agba jeun_. The child who knows how to wash his hands will eat with elders. Osun needs a man who washed his hands long ago.
*Q: How would you rate Gov Adeleke's government?*
*A:* _Omode o le mo iku ogun, a fi eni ti o je ogun lo_. A child cannot know the death of war, ask the one who fought it. Gov. Ademola Adeleke is governing within tight constraints, but the state cannot afford on-the-job experiments. His handlers are too busy to be proactive on a number of issues. Priotisation of expenditures or projects, I guess, is not in their term of reference.
The lopsidedness is damned too much. Projects fly to Ede while other zones eat from the floor. When you share meat with your eyes closed, you feed your own child first. Above all, too many appointments look like family reunion. _A o mo oluware, a n pe l’ori orun_. We don’t know the benevolent one, yet we’re calling him from heaven.
_Omi l’o pa eye, a ni ojo pa eye_. Water killed the bird, we say rain killed the bird. The problem is not dancing. The problem is dancing while the roof leaks. Osun needs a surgeon, not a DJ. This and many others are what I believe Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji would come to correct. _Eni to mo ona, ko ni sina_. He who knows the road will not miss it. AMBO managed Osun’s purse when it was empty and still paid salaries. He will not learn on the job. He has done the job. _Ti oju ba r’oju, oro a ye_. When eyes meet eyes, the matter becomes clear. 2026 will not be 2022 if we choose a man who came prepared.
*Rating*: 4/10.
*Why*: Good intentions, shaky execution. Too much dancing, too little direction. _Ilu ti ko si ofin, iku kii tan nibe_. A town without law, death never ends there. When government looks like a family tree, the state becomes an orphan.
*Q: Is 2026 heading the same way?*
*A:* It is not a surprise to every foresighted individual conscious of history to see how things are currently playing out. The same script is being rehearsed. The drummer has changed but the dance is the same. Some actors are complacent again, thinking the coast is clear. The heroes of past elections have woken up while hijackers and betrayers are living to prediction. Some insiders in APC are collecting money from both sides, waiting to sabotage the party once more. It was PDP in 2022, now their next nest is Accord as we approach the 2026 election. Some ungrateful actors who _our leader_ saved from oblivion are now preaching “4 more years” or floating new platforms, because they’ve been settled. They have eaten the yam and now insult the farmer.
*Q: What’s the lesson for APC and Osun?*
*A:* People are advised to learn from this episode. If we do not kill complacency, if we do not heal the wounds of 2018, 2022, or 2026, if we do not expose internal saboteurs early, if we do not reward loyalty and punish betrayal, then 2026 will be 2022 all over again. _Omode gbon, agba gbon, la fi da ile Ife_. It is the wisdom of young and old that built Ife. But fools and traitors will burn it down. It is sad to note that no one wants to accept the blame of the 2022 misfortune and today many are hurling the blame on the man at the centre, _our leader_ Alhaji Oyetola. No, that’s murdering history. When the head is off, the cap no longer fits anyone. We should all learn from this untoward action of humanity. _Ti a ba fi owo otun ba omode wi, a fi owo osi fa mora_. If we correct a child with the right hand, we draw him close with the left. But these people used both hands to beat _our leader_. He will triumph because he has a pure heart.
*Q: Final word on Oyetola?*
*A:* _Our leader_, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola, deserves celebration, not blame. He saved APC when it was dying. He was only defeated because he believed in people who did not deserve his trust. The fowl that you spare from the hawk is the one defecating in your pot of soup. Osun APC cannot afford another round of political 419. And Osun State cannot afford leaders who bite the fingers that fed them. Defection is allowed. Ingratitude is not. Murdering history to kill your benefactor is a curse. _Eni to gun yan ni ile, ti o tun gun esu ni oko, ile a mo, oko a mo_. He who plants yam at home and also plants yam on the farm, both the home and farm will know him. History is a stubborn teacher. Those who refuse to learn from it are condemned to repeat it. _Ile oba t’o jo, ewa lo bu si_. When a king’s palace burns, beauty is diminished. The question for 2026 is simple: Have we learnt, or are we ready to be scammed again?
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