Adeyeye Reveals Failed Last Effort to Reconcile Tinubu and Aregbesola, Restore APC Fold
Lagos, Nigeria—September 27, 2026—Veteran politician and former federal lawmaker Professor Olusola Adeyeye has opened up about his determined but unsuccessful attempts to mend the fractured relationship between President Bola Tinubu and former Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola, revealing he made a final push to return Aregbesola to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics programme on Sunday, Adeyeye said he had done his best to address the “crisis of confidence” that had developed between the two once inseparable political allies.
“I had done my best to resolve whatever crisis of confidence had arisen between the two people (Rauf Aregbesola and President Bola Tinubu). I thought I could give it a last effort to bring Rauf back into the fold of the APC,” he stated.
In related remarks during the same appearance, Adeyeye suggested that while President Tinubu might not publicly admit it, he likely misses Aregbesola’s presence in his political circle.
Asked who could still reconcile the two men, he replied that only God knows.
From Deep Trust to Political Rift
Adeyeye, an elder statesman from Osun State and former senator, has previously described the bond between Tinubu and Aregbesola as exceptionally close.
In earlier comments, he recalled Tinubu once saying at a meeting that if he were asleep and Aregbesola approached with a knife or dagger, no one should wake him because Aregbesola would never harm him. For Aregbesola, Adeyeye has said, Tinubu ranked just below God in loyalty and respect.
The relationship later deteriorated amid political disagreements, particularly surrounding Osun State politics and the succession involving Adegboyega Oyetola.
Aregbesola was eventually expelled from the APC and later emerged as National Secretary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), positioning himself in the opposition ahead of the 2027 elections.
Adeyeye has repeatedly expressed regret over the fallout, noting that power can be “a terrible thing” and that Nigerian politics often proves treacherous.
He maintained that reconciliation remains possible if both men desire it, though his own mediation efforts over the years did not succeed.
Broader Political Context
The public airing of Adeyeye’s comments comes as Nigeria’s political landscape intensifies ahead of 2027. Aregbesola’s shift to the ADC has been viewed by observers as a complete break from his long association with Tinubu, under whom he served as Lagos Works Commissioner and later rose to the governorship of Osun and the federal cabinet.
Adeyeye’s intervention underscores the personal and political costs of such high-level rifts within Nigeria’s progressive political family.
While he stopped short of detailing the exact nature of the “crisis of confidence,” his account reinforces longstanding narratives that the once-unbreakable alliance has proven difficult to restore despite repeated private efforts by intermediaries.
As the interview circulated widely on social media Sunday evening, it reignited discussions about loyalty, power, and the enduring influence of personal relationships in Nigerian politics.
Whether any future reconciliation is possible remains, in Adeyeye’s own words, known only to God.
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