By Fisayo Akinduro, Osogbo

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Osun State Caretaker Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Gboyega Famodun said the management of party activities is not vested in a pressure group which is not recognised by the party’s constitution.
Famodun disclosed this in a statement while reacting to the former Governor of the State, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola’s support for The Osun Progressives, TOP, at redirecting the party to succeed and endear it to the masses heart.
It will be recalled that the The Osun Progressives, TOP, under the leadership of Elder Adelowo Adebiyi a former Chairman of ACN in Osun state met with the Minister of Interior where he declared support for the group.
Aregbesola said the group’s move towards promotion of internal democracy, effective and efficient party management, remobilisation, reconciliation and networking the party for development is worthy of support.
Famodun while reacting said if the group has any idea that could be of benefits to the party, it should be a channel through appropriate constituted authority.
“The Constitution of the party doesn’t recognise any splinter group within the entity called APC in this country. The man that signed the statement is a leader of the party, there is no role for the former acting chairman in the management of the party.
“As a leader of the party if you believe in a course, there are organs of the party through which such grievances could be channelled, but when you go outside all those structures or you don’t believe in those structures again then don’t consider yourself as a member of the party anymore. You can not rebel against a constituted authority within the party”, he said.
Similarly, former House of Representatives, Deputy Speaker, Lasun Yussuff in a statement by his aide, Professor Aderemi Ajala, distanced himself from the BoT of the group, saying he does not belong to the same political bloc as the Minister.
The statement reads, “It was a rude shock to read a via social media report that came out on Saturday, May 15, 2021, Lasun Yussuff who is a former Deputy Speaker of House of Representatives is a member of the Board of Trustees (BOT) of a newly formed factional group in Osun All Progressives Congress (APC) known as The Osun Progressives (TOP), where Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, the former Governor of Osun state and presently the Minister of Interior, is the chairman of the group’s BOT.
“While distancing himself from TOP, it is noted that over the years since Lasun was elected as the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives till present, virtually all the members of TOP including the ex-Governor Rauf Aregbesola have politically dissociated from him.”