Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun has launched a scathing attack on Rauf Aregbesola, former cheif executive of the state, describing his time as governor as “the worst in Osun history”.
In a statement issued on Monday by Olawale Rasheed, his spokesperson, Adeleke was reacting to comments credited to Aregbesola, who reportedly threatened to remove him from office in 2026.
The governor said the state was still reeling from the “inhumane maladministration” of the former governor, accusing him of leaving behind a mountain of debt and widespread hardship.
Part of the statement read: “The empty boast of Mr Aregbesola about 2026 is a symptom of a troubled mind who sees wrong visions, who is battling his benefactor, and who is haunted by the pains and suffering he inflicted on millions of Osun people through his evil policies and programmes.
“A man who should be remorseful and tender public apologies for his years of maladministration has the audacity to threaten Governor Adeleke, who is clearing the mess he left behind after his eight years of anti-people, thoughtless leadership.”
Adeleke accused Aregbesola of introducing half salaries, mishandling pension funds, and abandoning key projects.
The governor further said: “Mr Aregbesola’s wickedness against workers, public servants, and Osun people knows no bounds while he wielded state power.
“A man who introduced half salaries, misapplied the contributory state pension fund, and misused the state cooperative deductions fund should be ashamed of his temerity to attack a governor who is now paying up the half salary affliction, clearing the unjustified debt, and rehabilitating brutalised Osun workers.”
Adeleke said his administration had paid 28 months of half salaries and nearly ₦60 billion in pension debt owed by Aregbesola’s government.
“Pensioners and workers generally are not praying for a return to the evil days of a bad administrator who left his state in ruins after eight years,” he said.
He said under his watch, Osun’s debt burden has been reduced by 40 percent, citing confirmation from the Debt Management Office (DMO).
“Within less than three years, Governor Adeleke has surpassed the government delivery of the eight years of Mr Aregbesola without borrowing a kobo for infrastructure projects,” the statement read.
He said his administration had constructed about 200 kilometres of roads, rehabilitated over 200 schools and health centres, placed over 30,000 pensioners on free health insurance, and completed several abandoned projects at Osun State University.
“Mr Aregbesola is invited to note that Governor Adeleke has… made the University of Ilesa a reality, among several others.
“If Mr Aregbesola is to accuse Governor Adeleke of non-performance, we await his review of the dualisation of the Palace to Brewery Junction at Ilesa, which he failed to achieve while in office. He should check out the flyover projects at Ile Ife and Osogbo, and the dualisation projects ongoing at Iwo, among others,” he added.
He said no voter in Osun was ready to return to the “dark days” of the Aregbesola era.
He dismissed Aregbesola’s 2026 comments as “a blurry vision of another world”.
“Mr Aregbesola is a shrew (Asin tí ò mọ̀ pé òun ń rùn) who does not know that he is smelling.
“2026 is payback time when Osun people will punish the former governor and his new party for wilfully inflicting pain and suffering on Osun people throughout his eight-year rule,” Adeleke stated.
