Facts are beginning to emerge on the reported rift between the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his age-long political associate and protégé, Minister for Interior, Rauf Aregbesola.
The tension was blown opened when Governor’s Advisory Council (GAC), headed by Tinubu dissolved all political groups within the party in the state, including the Mandate Group which was headed by Aregbesola on Tuesday.
The dissolution, coupled with the facts that Aregbesola was unaware of the communique to that effect was the first indication that things are no longer at ease between both of them.
National Daily gathered that Aregbesola revamped the Mandate Group — Tinubu’s core support group few weeks back and appointed his protege, Abdullahi Enilolobo, as the new chairman, while Tinubu’s right-hand man, James Odunmbaku was given less prominent role of ‘apex leader’ in the group.
Another indication, National Daily gathered was his fraternization with Nasir el-Rufai, the governor of Kaduna state who does not see eye-to-eye with Tinubu.
The Kaduna governor has in the past spoken about how to end godfatherism in Lagos — an apparent snide at Tinubu, who has controlled the state’s politics since 1999.
But el-Rufai is not the only “opponent” of Tinubu that Aregbesola has been getting comfortable with in recent times. He was also alleged to have taken a private jet ride with Ibikunle Amosun, former governor of Ogun state, from Lagos to Abuja and this sent tongues wagging.
Amosun, for those who may not know, is one of the biggest opponents of Tinubu in the south-west, and Aregbesola used to be one of the arrowheads in the bid to neutralise the senator in Yoruba politics.
The final straw, National Daily gathered, was a meeting of the Mandate Group which was held at Aregbesola’s GRA Ikeja Residence, a meeting, the source said was not sanctioned by Tinubu.
At the meeting were some highly placed loyalists and supporters of Tinubu, many of whom later told the APC national leader that they did not understand the undercurrents.
Sikiru “Pepper” Osinowo, senator for Lagos east, who has been at loggerhead with the Speaker of the Lagos state House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, attended the meeting to prove a point.
Meanwhile, Obasa, a die-hard Tinubu loyalist, had sometimes ago dropped the hint that “a former governor living in GRA Ikeja” was part of the plot against him.
There is also the rift between Aregbesola and his successor in Osun state, Adegboyega Oyetola over the heavy debt burden he inherited in the state.
Oyetola is also related to Tinubu by blood.
Apart from the heavy debts and a burden of unpaid salaries, Oyetola was also not happy about Aregbesola’s tinkering with the administrative structure of the state which he believed made things cumbersome.
It was also gathered that Tinubu was no longer comfortable with the moves being made by Aregbesola and decided to stamp his feet, hence the need to disband the Mandate Group and other political groups within the party in the state.
At the Tuesday’s meeting of the Governor’s Advisory Council (GAC), Tinubu spoke strongly against the revival of Mandate Group.
Meanwhile Aregbesola has denied any rift with Tinubu, whom he described as his mentor, maintaining that the relaunch of Mandate Group was to help his “political mentor”.
Tinubu, also on Tuesday evening denied any rift with Aregbesola.
However, key followers of the trend of event are not buying these rebuttals, pointing out that the fact Aregbesola was not aware of the GAC communique which had announced the dissolution of the Mandate Group, shows he’s gradually being sidelined in the scheme of things.