The immediate-past Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola has launched a new Omoluabi Caucus under the All Progressives Congress while restating his commitment to the party.
Speaking at the launch of the Caucus in his hometown of Ilesa, Osun State, on Tuesday, even as he stated that political parties are amalgamation of different interests and tendencies.
He said, “the Omoluabi Tendency is a caucus within the All Progressives Congress (APC); actually one of the caucuses in the state. We are not a faction. We are the genuine foundation members of the party and we have no intention of abandoning the ship of the party as it navigates the most turbulent waters. We are no sprinters, but long-distance runners and we will still be standing when all the fair-weathers have gone.
“A political party is actually an agglomeration of interests and tendencies. Reading well from the United States where we borrowed the Presidential System, we can see that the Republican Party is made up of big businesses, nationalists, religious right and others. The Democratic Party, on the other hand, is composed of welfarists, labour unions, ethnic and sexual minorities and others.
“They are together in the party because their interests are broadly similar and they believe the party is the right vehicle for them to realise their goals. Sometimes they compete and clash, but for most part, they cooperate and form strong bond to give their party the victory in every election cycle. The party loses anytime this bond is broken,” Ogbeni Aregbesola stated.
The immediate-past minister of Interior also stated that the launch of the Omoluabi Caucus was to renew their path in progressive politics as inherited from Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Chief Bola Ige, amongst other progressives who epitomised the Omoluabi ethos, noting that the loss of the party in the state can be traced to the departure from these progressive ideals, but revealing that it will bounce back to its winning ways.
