Rauf Aregbesola, a former interior minister, claimed that he had returned to reorganize the All Progressives Congress in Osun State.
Although he insisted that he had offended no one, the former governor of Osun State for two terms also begged for pardon from those who had been hurt by him.
On Wednesday, as Osun APC members and locals welcomed him back to the state, Aregbesola announced this.
During the ceremony, which took place in Osogbo’s Nelson Mandela Freedom Park, Aregbesola said it was sad that “some people” mismanaged the APC’s business and caused it to falter.
He said that in 2019, he had urged the party’s unity and warned that the failure to bring the party’s many interest groups together would not result in positive outcomes.
As he put it, “I’m here to ask for party reform. Although I didn’t mean to insult anyone, we should be forgiven by everyone we may have hurt.
“We humbly beg for pardon from those whom we have insulted and from those who have plotted our destruction.
“Even though we never hurt them, we ask for their forgiveness since they are tarnishing our reputation.
“I did everything I could to ensure their success, and we supported them. Nothing was requested of them by me. I must stress that I made no requests of them. However, they made the decision to make up for evil with good.
“After the Supreme Court upheld the former governor’s mandate, we were present here in 2019. In the party, I demanded cooperation. I said that there would be no good coming from dissension. However, the devil prevented the party’s administrators from hearing what was being spoken.
“We are, nevertheless, here to help with the party’s reconstruction. We humbly ask everyone we have insulted to please forgive us for this.
Later, the former minister visited the Ataoja of Osogbo land, Oba Jimoh Olanipekun Oyetunji, and the Owa Obokun of Ijesaland, Oba Gabriel Adekunle Aromalaran, where he handed his score cards.
As a result of disagreements between former Governor Adegboyega Oyetola and his predecessor, Rauf Aregbesola, the Osun APC began to come apart before the state’s 2022 governor election.
The party split into two groups as well, with some members joining the TOP (The Osun Progressives) and others joining the IleriOluwa faction of Oyetola.
Due to the concurrent primaries that resulted, the state of Nigeria now has two APC party chairmen.
The party was riddled with violence, which led to two open attacks on TOP members at meetings and an armed attack on Rauf Aregbesola’s vehicle in Osogbo in 2022.
