When I read Ismail Omipidanโs so-called โopen letterโ to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, I was not struck by patriotism, principle, or loyalty. I was struck by something else entirely: desperation desperation to stay relevant in a political terrain that has long outgrown his brand of sycophantic gatekeeping and revisionist storytelling.
Letโs be clear from the onset: Omipidan is not defending Osun APC, nor is he standing for good governance. He is merely lobbying publicly and clumsily for a factional interest that has failed to evolve beyond 2018. And his attack on Governor Ademola Adeleke is not rooted in ideological differences, but in fear. Fear that the ground is shifting away from the old, worn-out script written by those who believe the soul of Osun politics must forever be mortgaged to them.
More laughable, however, is Omipidanโs attempt to invoke the name of Rauf Aregbesola as a veiled threat while pretending to speak for โthe people.โ Newsflash: Aregbesola does not need Omipidanโs unsolicited protection or performative outrage. The former governor has earned his place in Osunโs history through action not press releases and open letters.
It was Aregbesola who, in 2011, stood against the PDP tsunami that swept through the South-West. It was Aregbesola who redefined infrastructural governance in Osun. And it was Aregbesola who built the same APC structure that people like Omipidan now weaponize for political blackmail and shallow factional loyalty.
What exactly does Omipidan want? That President Tinubu should slam the door shut on dialogue, coalition-building, or any possibility of cooperation in Osun? That he should isolate potential allies out of fear of imagined betrayal? Or is it that he fears the return of Aregbesolaโs influence in APC because it exposes just how little weight his own camp truly carries?
Omipidan writes like someone afraid not of Adeleke, but of Aregbesolaโs return to relevance. Because when Aregbesola sneezes, the remnants of the failed Osun inner circle catch a cold. And rightly so.
Letโs talk about “keeping the party alive.” Who exactly is Omipidan referring to? The same clique that ran the party into the ground in 2022 with internal sabotage, anti-party behavior, and reckless arrogance? Or the same men who weaponized propaganda, alienated grassroots supporters, and fought Aregbesola until they lost the state?
You cannot destroy a house, then write open letters claiming to defend its roof.
What Osun APC needs now is healing, restructuring, and reunification. And like it or not, Rauf Aregbesola is central to that process. He is not just a former governor he is the original architect of progressive politics in the state. His grassroots machinery remains unmatched. His commitment to principle unlike the backroom deals Omipidan accuses others of is well known.
Aregbesola is not intimidated by Adeleke, nor does he need to be. If the governor defects or remains in PDP, let the people judge him by his performance. The problem is that Omipidan and his camp are terrified of any scenario that does not revolve around their outdated factional dominance.
And hereโs the inconvenient truth they refuse to admit: Aregbesola has moved on. Osun APC, as we once knew it, is politically dead killed by the arrogance, disunity, and shortsightedness of the very people now crying foul. The only viable opposition voice left in Osun is not the echo chamber Omipidan represents, but the rising tide of the Omoluabi Progressive Movement, which is preparing to unveil its platform and breathe new life into progressive politics.
President Tinubu must not allow himself to be distracted by political errand boys masquerading as thought leaders. Loyalty to the party is important but blind loyalty to failure is suicidal. If APC must win in Osun in 2026, it cannot do so by listening to the tired scripts of those who lost in 2022 and learned nothing since.
The future of Osun politics lies not in exclusion, bitterness, or media tantrums. It lies in reconciliation, reinvention, and authentic leadership. And that future cannot and must not exclude Rauf Aregbesola.
If Omipidan feels threatened by that reality, he is welcome to write a thousand more open letters. But the grassroots knows the truth. And history already knows who the real builders of Osun were.
