Osun Governor, Ademola Adeleke has claimed that while Rauf Aregbesola held sway in the state as governor many pensioners died allegedly from non-payment of pension by the latter’s administration.
Aregbesola, then of ruling All Progressives Congress and Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party were believed to have worked together in the election that produced the latter and derailed the reelection of the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola as the state governor.
Indication that their relationship has gone south surfaced at the weekend when Aregbesola, now of the African Democratic Congress vowed to see to it that Adeleke did not win reelection in the State governorship election scheduled for August 8, 2026.
The remark of the former Minister of Interior drew him opprobrium from the incumbent via a statement the latter’s spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed released.
It reads: “A man who left a legacy of huge state debt, half salary, scam learning tablets (Opon Imo) and several fanciful, inflated, uncompleted projects.
“Your tenure is the worst in Osun history. The empty boast of Mr Aregbesola about 2026 is a symptom of a troubled mind who sees the wrong vision, is battling his benefactor and is haunted by the pains and suffering he inflicted on millions of Osun people through his evil policies and programmes.
“A man who should be remorseful and tender public apologies for his years of maladministration has the audacity to threaten Governor Adeleke, who is clearing the mess he left behind after his eight years of anti-people, thoughtless leadership.
“Mr Aregbesola’s wickedness against workers, public servants, and Osun people knows no bounds while he wielded state power.”
It also comprised of this: “The present administration has paid close to N60bn in pension debt, a legacy of this same Aregbesola.
“Pensioners and workers generally are not praying for a return to the evil days of a bad administrator who left his state in ruin after eight years.”
And this: “Mr Aregbesola is invited to note that Governor Adeleke has constructed about 200km of roads, rehabilitated over 200 schools and health centres, placed over 30,000 pensioners on free health insurance care, provided critical medical surgeries to over 60,000 Osun residents, completed several abandoned projects at Osun State University, made University of Ilesa a reality, among several others.
“If Aregbesola is to accuse Governor Adeleke of non-performance, we await his review of the dualisation of palace to brewery junction at Ilesa, which he failed to achieve while in office.
“He should check out the flyover projects at Ile Ife and Osogbo and the dualisation projects ongoing at Iwo, among others.
“Osun people know their present and past governors.
“Our people are smart enough to know that the worst era for Osun State is that of Mr Aregbesola under whom many pensioners lost their lives, thousands of lives were disrupted, and the state plunged into unsustainable debt still hurting the state to date. No voter in Osun is ready for a return to the dark days.
“We, therefore, dismiss Aregbesola’s boast as a blurry vision of another world other than Osun where Governor Adeleke has received accolades and awards for delivering on good governance and where Osun people have appreciated the local content policy, the non-borrowing policy, and the people’s first style of the current governor.”
