“Won ti n to ara” was heard punctuating interior minister Rauf Aregbesola’s impassioned barbs aimed at his estranged political godfather and APC national leader Bola Tinubu in a video spreading on social media.
Loosely translated from Yoruba, the expression means “they’re already urinating on themselves.”
The 45-second video posted on Twitter Monday evening showed Mr Aregbesola castigating the ex-Lagos governor’s overbearing spirit to the cheers of his supporters at a rally in Osun earlier in the day.
It came a day after a video depicting Bola Tinubu’s soaked dress and probable odour dominated discussion across social media on Sunday.
Mr Aregbesola has been locked in a fierce political fray with his former chief of staff and successor, Gboyega Oyetola, accusing him and Mr Tinubu of conniving to destroy his legacy in Osun. Messrs Tinubu and Oyetola are believed to be of the same family, with Mr Oyetola often describing himself as a younger brother to Mr Tinubu.
In the video, Mr Aregbesola narrated how Mr Tinubu promised that Mr Oyetola would be a loyal successor, only for this not to turn out the case.
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“Rauf, this is the person that will stand by you and support your work,” Mr Aregbesola recalled a conversation with Mr Tinubu prior to the 2018 governorship election in which he tapped Mr Oyetola to succeed him. “This is the person that will not make a mess of your glory.”
“That was what the person (Mr Tinubu) who brought him (Mr Oyetola) to me told me. As I’m saying now, it will be hurting him that he said so. Has he done so?” Mr Aregbesola added before a cheering crowd at the rally.
Then, a faint voice from the crowd jeered: “Won ti n to ara!”
“Won ti n to ara!” Mr Aregbesola also chimed. Then the compere at the event re-echoed Mr Aregbesola’s “Won ti n to ara!” The refrain was in reference to the APC national leader’s disquieting outing in Ijebu Ode.
On Saturday at the palace of Awujale of Ijebuland in Ijebu Ode, Mr Tinubu’s dress was soaked behind when he stood up and his security aide frantically covered his nose.
A spokesman for the presidential front runner did not return a request seeking an explanation on the matter.
Mr Aregbesola said he was bent on scuttling Osun incumbent governor’s reelection bid just as Mr Tinubu had done to former Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos.
According to the ex-Osun governor, Mr Tinubu orchestrated Mr Ambode’s failure to seek reelection, with the party against his second-term bid.
“That was how it was sometime in Lagos when a governor rejected by the party wanted to contest a second term. The party refused. It is the same today, and familiarity will not stop that from happening,” Mr Aregbesola said to a group of party faithful in Ijebu-Jesha ahead of the party’s primaries slated for Saturday ahead of the July 16 governorship election.
Mr Oyetola has avoided attacking Mr Aregbesola, but his administration now increasingly dismisses the minister as an irritant. Both camps have intensified political attacks ahead of the party’s governorship primaries this weekend.