Once the trusted foot soldier in Bola Tinubu’s political army, Rauf Aregbesola is back on a different battlefield, and this time, he is helping to build an opposition army.
For years, the former Osun governor was regarded as one of Tinubu’s most loyal political associates. A colourful, fiery and fiercely grassroots politician whose rise through the progressive movement carried him from Osun’s political trenches to the federal cabinet as Minister of Interior.
But the political winds have shifted.
Today, Aregbesola occupies a very different corner of the political chessboard. As National Secretary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), he is no longer operating from within the All Progressives Congress (APC) family that once gave him national prominence. He is now part of an opposition coalition positioning itself for the great political contest of 2027.
And that transformation has added a delicious layer of intrigue to the politics of the South-west.
The journey from loyal lieutenant to opposition strategist did not happen overnight. His political relationship with the Tinubu camp had become increasingly strained, particularly around the politics of Osun and the APC’s internal affairs. By the time Aregbesola openly aligned himself with the ADC, what had once been an influential political partnership had become a distinctly different political equation.
His stance became more glaring during the 2026 Osun governorship election, when Aregbesola threw his political weight behind the ADC candidate, Najeem Salaam. The result, however, was far from the breakthrough the opposition platform had hoped for. The ADC finished third, while even Aregbesola’s own polling unit went to the APC.
For a politician whose political mythology has always been tied to grassroots mobilisation, the symbolism was impossible to miss. Yet Aregbesola, characteristically, did not retreat into silence. Instead, he congratulated Governor Ademola Adeleke on his re-election, acknowledging the verdict of the electorate.
Now, with 2027 beckoning, the man who once stood proudly in President Tinubu’s political camp appears ready to throw caution to the wind. He has positioned himself on the opposite side of the barricade, setting the stage for what could become a fascinating political showdown to be witnessed.