Osun State Governor Gboyega Oyetola and his predecessor Rauf Aregbesola, who is also the minister of interior, will go head to head on Saturday at the All Progressives Congress governorship primary in Osun.
Aregbesola is against Oyetola’s second term bid and has thrown his weight behind former secretary to the state government, Moshood Adeoti.
The minister and Oyetola, who was his chief of staff when he was governor of the state for eight years, have been drawn in a supremacy battle since Oyetola was elected in 2018.
The reason for their political disagreement remains largely unknown to the public.
While Adeoti and Oyetola are frontrunners for the party’s governorship ticket, a former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Lasun Yusuf, is also in the race.
On Friday, a convoy of about 30 trucks of combined security team comprising soldiers, police, men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Federal Road Safety Corps and operatives of the Department of State Services moved around major areas in Osogbo, the state capital in a show of force.
There have been accusations and counter-accusations between Aregbesola’s men and Osun State Government which also saw security agencies divided for a short time.
Also, many have been raising alarm over alleged influx of hoodlums and weapons into the state ahead of the primary.
The police, however, assured on Friday that attention was also being paid to border communities to ensure that hoodlums were not allowed into the state.
“We are fully prepared for tomorrow exercise. They (police authorities) have sent more hands from neighbouring states. I can’t tell you the actual number of those deployed,” police spokesperson Yemisi Opalola told PUNCH.
“By God’s grace, we have mounted checks across all boundary communities in the state. They are well fortified. All boundaries are well taken care of, more men have been deployed. No cause for concern. We are fully ready.”
