The All Progressives Congress (APC) has described Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola's visit to Governor Ayodele Fayose as a slight on the ruling party and contempt for its leadership in the state.
Aregbesola was in Ado-Ekiti on Saturday on invitation of Fayose for the 20th Anniversary of Ekiti State. At a public forum broadcast live on the state media, Aregbesola described Fayose as "omoluabi" and a hardworking governor who had turned around the fortunes of Ekiti State in terms of infrastructure.
"Fayose is a reliable person" he was quoted to have said, and that in spite of political differences, he and Fayose shared many things in common and "sooner than later, there will be realignment of forces".
A statement by the Publicity Secretary of APC, Taiwo Olatunbosun, said that the visit shows the contempt into which the party and its leaders were held by the Osun governor after Fayose had caused severe pains in the lives of APC members, some of whom had been languishing in jail for about two years for the offences they did not commit.
"Aregbesola's visit to Fayose praising him as 'omoluabi' and for the achievements by APC-led government is not alone embarrassing but also awful in the face of sustained attacks on APC members, some of whom are still languishing in jail for about two years over trumped-up charges by Fayose.
''It is shocking that Aregbesola as a governor and one of the leading lights in APC in the South West and indeed the nation would be visiting Ekiti State without putting the leaders into confidence, more so on a visit to a man who once wished the President dead and had done unbelievable things both in Nigeria and abroad to bring Buhari's government down.
''Worse still, Aregbesola was praising the man who will stop at nothing to bring APC-led Federal Government down after several years of failed attempts by the progressives to win the presidency of Nigeria."
On the reported 'alignment between the two governors, Mr Olatunbosun said:
"We find it most embarrassing and shocking that one of our leaders would be planning a re-alignment of forces with a governor that has made life a nightmare for our members, the same members that will participate in the said re-alignment that Aregbesola is talking about, without sparing a thought for members held in jail unjustly while other APC members are routinely attacked by Fayose's men on the streets''.
