Aregbesola's loyalists allege plot to assassinate him

Supporters of Rauf Aregbesola, National Secretary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), have raised alarm over what they described as a coordinated plan to eliminate him.

The loyalists, under the aegis of Aregbesola-backed Omoluabi Progressives, said in a statement signed by spokesperson and Organising Secretary Oluwaseun Abosede that the former Minister of Interior is being subjected to “the anatomy of assassination politics.”

“In recent weeks, we have witnessed a disturbing escalation of incendiary remarks, veiled threats, and direct state-backed actions targeting his person. Taken together, these developments raise genuine fears that a sinister agenda is being orchestrated to silence him permanently under the guise of politics," the statement reads in part.

"On July 23, 2025, Yoruba Nation agitator, Sunday Igboho, declared at a rally in Yoruba, ‘Ile o mú won’ (the land will consume them), a statement widely understood as a call for violence against Aregbesola.

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"This was followed on August 2, 2025, by a veiled threat circulated on social media through the amplification of a post by journalist, Mayor Akinpelu, endorsed by Presidential spokesman, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, which suggested that Aregbesola would face dire consequences for his political independence. He wrote in that infamous article inter alia, ‘no man could repay good with evil and get away with it.’

"The rhetoric intensified on August 14, 2025, when journalist Gbonka Ebiri openly called for Aregbesola to face the ‘wrath of Yorubaland’ and branded him a ‘sell-out’ who must be ‘made an example of.’ Such incitement to violence has no place in a civilised democracy.

"On the same day, August 14, police operatives with an Armoured Personnel Carrier disrupted the African Democratic Congress rally in Sagamu, Ogun State, where Aregbesola was scheduled to lead the campaign for the House of Representatives bye-election candidate, Hon. Solomon Oluwaseyi Osho. The venue was vandalised, equipment seized, and Aregbesola himself was obstructed from accessing the event. The attempt by the police to downplay this incident only deepens public suspicion.

"It is becoming increasingly clear that this pattern of coordinated attacks, from inflammatory rhetoric to physical obstruction, represents nothing less than what analysts have described as ‘the anatomy of assassination politics.’

"Those behind these plots must desist immediately. The safety, dignity, and political rights of Yoruba leaders must not be sacrificed on the altar of opportunism. We call on well-meaning Nigerians to take note of the rhetoric, and urge the relevant security agencies to ensure that democracy is not desecrated by threats, intimidation, and violence.”

Abosede insisted that Aregbesola committed no offence by choosing an independent political path and warned that any attempt to harm him would be resisted.

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Meanwhile, Osun State Police spokesperson, Abiodun Ojelabi, told Sunday PUNCH that the command had not received any report of a planned attack on the former minister.