The loyalists of ex-minister Rauf Aregbesola have renamed their faction within the All Progressives Congress (APC), Osun state to the Omoluabi caucus.
They also disowned their members numbering about seventy-nine who were appointed by Governor Ademola Adeleke as caretaker committee members for local government areas across the state.
NewMailNG recalled that the Aregbesola’s loyalists had opposed the reelection of ex-governor Adegboyega Oyetola under the faction within APC named, The Osun Progressives (TOP).
The faction was dissolved in December 2023 by one of their leaders who is the former speaker of Osun State House of Assembly, Najeem Salam.
In a recent development, the chairman of the defunct faction, Adelowo Adebiyi in a statement on Thursday disclosed that the new name of the faction is now Omoluabi caucus.
The statement reads: “We wish to state that whosoever that has been appointed into political offices by the Adeleke’s administration got such, practically on his or her individual’s connection and influence, and not on behalf of Omoluabi, or as compensation for defunct The Osun Progress (TOP) or Omoluabi caucus.
“We restated unequivocally that at no time did the defunct TOP enter into any agreement with the PDP to work for it; which might warrant the erroneous compensation as being falsely spread by the mischief makers. Those who feel strongly about their individual interests couldn’t be stopped from pursuing such, hence the situation whereby some of them accepted to serve in the PDP government.
He noted that: “We restate our commitment to the APC. On behalf of our Patron, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, we thank all those who had been steadfast and absolutely loyal within our tendency and urge all members to start the mobilisation work of politicians and voters in earnest for the APC, our party ahead of future elections.”