Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, has suffered a major setback in his battle for the soul of the All Progressives Congress in Osun State – with his successor, Governor Adegboyega Oyetola.
Justice Nathaniel Ayo-Emmanuel of an Osogbo Federal High Court on Wednesday declined jurisdiction in the suit filed by the 2, 517 aggrieved members of the All Progressives Congress against the last Ward congress of the party in Osun State.
This gives the Oyetola faction an edge, and a nod towards the upcoming election.
Oyetola was Aregbesola’s Chief of Staff but there has been no love lost between them since Oyetola became governor.
The division between them has become so intractable that interventions by elders such as Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Chief Bisi Akande, as well as the APC reconciliation committee, have proved fruitless.
The rift has heightened anxieties about the impending poll.
The recetly held congress saw the factions hold separate ones, but the Aregbesola’s group has suffered a hitch in the battle.
As ‘The Punch’ reports, Ayoo-Emmanuel in the ruling, which lasted about one hour, 30 minutes, held that issues relating to Congresses remain a domestic affair of political parties and struck out the matter.
