The Omoluabi Progressives said it is deeply alarmed by what appears to be a coordinated attempt to politically and physically eliminate the former Minister of Interior and former Governor of Osun State, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola. This it alleged in a release issued by one Oluwaseun Abosede spokesperson and organising secretary of Omoluabi Progressives.
Below is the full details of the release.
“In recent weeks, we have witnessed a disturbing escalation of incendiary remarks, veiled threats, and direct state-backed actions targeting his person. Taken together, these developments raise genuine fears that a sinister agenda is being orchestrated to silence him permanently under the guise of politics.
On 23 July 2025, Yoruba Nation agitator, Sunday Igboho, declared at a rally in Yoruba, ‘Ilẹ o mú wọn” (the land will consume them), a statement widely understood as a call for violence against Ogbeni Aregbesola. This was followed on 2 August 2025 by a veiled threat circulated on social media through the amplification of a post by journalist Mayor Akinpelu, endorsed by Presidential spokesman, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, which suggested that Aregbesola would face dire consequences for his political independence. He wrote in that infamous article inter alia, “no man could repay good with evil and get away with it’.
“The rhetoric intensified on 14 August 2025, when journalist Gbonka Ebiri openly called for Aregbesola to face the “wrath of Yorubaland” and branded him a ‘sell-out’ who must be ‘made an example of’. Such incitement to violence has no place in a civilised democracy.
“Worryingly, these verbal attacks soon escalated into physical repression. On the same day, 14 August, police operatives with an Armoured Personnel Carrier disrupted the African Democratic Congress rally in Sagamu, Ogun State, where Ogbeni Aregbesola was scheduled to lead the campaign for the House of Representatives bye-election candidate, Hon. Solomon Oluwaseyi Osho. The venue was vandalised, equipment seized, and Ogbeni Aregbesola himself was obstructed from accessing the event. The attempt by the police to downplay this incident only deepens public suspicion.
“It is becoming increasingly clear that this pattern of coordinated attacks; from inflammatory rhetoric to physical obstruction, represents nothing less than what analysts have described as “the anatomy of assassination politics.”
“We align with the position of the Coalition of Oodua Self-Determination Groups, which has condemned these threats in the strongest terms. As its Chairman, Dayo Ogunlana, rightly stated, the Yoruba nation must never allow intimidation and violence to replace healthy political contest. Ogbeni Aregbesola’s contributions to the Yoruba people, from his reconciliation efforts within the Oodua People’s Congress in the past to his developmental strides in Osun and Lagos, remain indelible.
“Ogbeni Aregbesola committed no offence in choosing is independent political path, and his constitutional and democratic rights should be respected.
We therefore warn, in the clearest possible terms, that any plot to harm Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola will be resisted by the people. Those behind these plots must desist immediately. The safety, dignity, and political rights of Yoruba leaders must not be sacrificed on the altar of opportunism.
We call on well-meaning Nigerians to take note of the rhetoric by appointees and supporters of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and urge the relevant security agencies to ensure that democracy is not desecrated by threats, intimidation, and violence. Any further escalation will not only endanger Ogbeni Aregbesola but also destabilise the peace and unity of Yorubaland.”
Signed,
Oluwaseun Abosede
Spokesperson and Organising Secretary
Omoluabi Progressives
16/08/2025
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