Osun APC downplays exit of Aregbesola’s faction, calls members “irrelevant”

The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has dismissed the recent exit of the Omoluabi Progressives, a faction loyal to former Governor Rauf Aregbesola, labeling it as inconsequential.

In a statement issued on Monday in Osogbo, APC spokesperson Kola Olabisi downplayed the announcement, asserting that the faction had already cut ties with the party as far back as 2022. Olabisi claimed that several members of the group had been either expelled or suspended for activities deemed harmful to the APC’s progress.

He further accused the faction of acting as “agents of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),” insisting that their departure would have no significant impact on the party’s structure or operations in the state.

Reacting to the faction’s departure, Olabisi said, “In the first instance, the kernel of the statement by the dissidents’ group amounted to a confused pack of rudderless political…who were approbating and reprobating at the same time, as it is on record that a sizeable number of them have either been expelled or suspended from the party.

“How would any rational human being who has been suspended or expelled announce his resignation to the whole world again? Is that not an example of superfluity? We, in the Osun State APC, shall be happy to miss the political irritants and deviants who had since left the party by way of body and soul before the 2022 governorship election in the state.”

He accused the group of attempting to destabilise the party and failing in their efforts to hijack its structure.

Olabisi dismissed their claims of being progressives, saying, “The ambulatory Omoluabi Progressives believe they are more progressive in Nigeria than the real progenitors of the progressives party having no respect for the elders and their political benefactors.”

The APC spokesperson further warned that the group’s departure marks the beginning of their “political funeral,” adding that their exit would culminate in total defeat during the 2026 Osun governorship election.

“Your recent announcement of either forming or joining another party is the imminent beginning of your political funeral, culminating in your final burial through the 2026 governorship election. More importantly, the blindfolded followers of the ill-fated Omoluabi Progressives will regret being part of this shenanigans,” Olabisi declared.

He also suggested that the group’s actions demonstrated disloyalty and alignment with the opposition, asserting that the APC remains stronger without them.