A former senator representing Osun Central, Prof Olusola Adeyeye, has said no one loved President Bola Tinubu as much as former Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola did when they were political allies.
Adeyeye, who spoke on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Sunday, said the bond between Tinubu and Aregbesola was unusually strong before their fallout, adding that the President likely misses the partnership but won’t admit it publicly.
Adeyeye stated this while featuring on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Sunday.
Asked whether Tinubu was missing Aregbesola in his political circle, the former lawmaker said the President might not admit it publicly, but argued that the bond between the two former allies was unusually strong.
“I don’t think he (Tinubu) will admit it, but I am sure he does. I say this because I don’t know anyone who loved Asiwaju as much as Rauf did, and I don’t know anyone who would go to any extent for Rauf as Asiwaju did. That is the truth.
“They were intended for each other. As a rule, nobody told me this. When I came back from the US, I had had a relationship with Asiwaju while he was in exile.
“When I came back, I saw that this magnitude of relationship was such that I told myself I would never go outside of Rauf to see Asiwaju because I didn’t want Rauf to be threatened by me. I also didn’t want Asiwaju to think that I was trying to undermine Rauf.”
Adeyeye, who served in the Senate during Aregbesola’s tenure as governor of Osun, said he maintained a close political relationship with the former governor and regularly sought his approval on political matters.
“In fact, whatever I did as a Senator, Rauf knew. I took his permission for many things. And I will say this, Rauf is now in the ADC as secretary and guess who the chairman is – David Mark. I know the two of them. I also know how Rauf felt about David Mark and how Mark felt about Rauf in those years.
“I knew when 17 out of 18 South-West senators rejected a nominee for a ministerial appointment and how Mark ensured that the same nominee was passed contrary to the convention. I was in the Senate.
“So if Rauf and Mark are now the best of political allies, that’s what life brings. Politics makes strange bedfellows,” he stated.
Aregbesola, a former Minister of Interior, is currently the National Secretary of the African Democratic Congress, whose National Chairman is former Senate President David Mark.
Reflecting on the strained relationship between Tinubu and Aregbesola, Adeyeye said he had previously made efforts to reconcile the two former allies.
He said, “I had done my best to resolve whatever crisis of confidence that had arisen between the two people. I have never heard anybody in politics who has a higher esteem for the man who is now our President than Rauf Aregbesola. He loved him.
“In fact, as far as Rauf is concerned, the only person who takes precedence over him is God himself. But the Yoruba also say that 20 children do not play for 20 years. Things do happen in life; friends part, sometimes they come back again.”
Aregbesola was closely associated with Tinubu’s political camp in Lagos, serving as Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure when Tinubu was governor of Lagos State.
He later secured the All Progressives Congress governorship ticket in Osun and became governor in 2010 after a prolonged legal battle.
Their relationship subsequently deteriorated amid political disagreements in Osun, particularly over the succession of Aregbesola.
Tinubu backed Gboyega Oyetola, Aregbesola’s former Chief of Staff, in the 2018 governorship election.
The disagreement deepened ahead of the 2022 Osun governorship election and eventually resulted in Aregbesola and his supporters distancing themselves from the APC structure in the state.
Aregbesola subsequently joined the ADC as the party repositioned ahead of the 2027 general elections.