The Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, on Sunday, fired back at former Osun State governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, for saying the African Democratic Congress would defeat President Bola Tinubu and take over Aso Rock as well as the Lagos State Government House in 2027.

In a statement, the APC spokesman in Lagos, Seye Oladejo, described Aregbesola’s mission as “political suicide,” for someone who was once a commissioner, governor and minister under the APC government.

While also describing Aregbesola’s remarks as “an empty boast,” the APC accused the ex-minister of betraying the party that made him, saying his action was akin to someone writing their autobiography with an eraser.

Aregbesola, who served as governor and Minister of Interior as an APC member, declared on Saturday that his current party, the ADC, would unseat President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 general election and also lead Lagos State.

He spoke at a gathering in Lagos on Saturday, where the leader of the Labour Party’s Conscience Forum, Moshood Salvador, formally led his members into the ADC fold.

“If the Conscience Forum, good-looking people with highly cultured leadership, can organise this kind of event to make a declaration for the ADC and follow the line enunciated by the leader, surely, Alausa is a sure ticket for all of us.

Our resolve is that it won’t be difficult at all to take over the seat of power. It’s a simple strategy of one getting ten, and each of the ten will equally get ten. Its operation is ten over ten. Once we can get this done, that’s the end of it. We will surely meet at the Aso Rock Villa and produce the next president of the country. Once again, I am happy to be here, and we must not relax our efforts to change Nigeria,” Aregbesola had said.

But Oladejo said the APC finds Aregbesola’s comments funny and pitiable, lambasting the former minister for becoming a “tenant” in a “mushroom party.”

Oladejo said, “Here is a man who was once a proud landlord in the progressive family, now reduced to a wandering tenant in a mushroom opposition party. From Lagos commissioner to Osun Governor and then minister, Aregbe ate, dined, and thrived on the APC table. Today, in a desperate bid for relevance, he is busy setting fire to the same house that made him. That, dear Nigerians, is political suicide of the highest order.”

He said if the ADC thinks Aregbesola is the one to lead them to electoral glory, they are preparing for a failure at the polls.

He added, “Let us be clear: Lagos and Nigeria are not conquered by sound bites. Our people vote for performance, not fairy tales. The APC’s record is visible on the roads, in our schools, in our hospitals, and in our reforms. The ADC, on the other hand, remains a political mirage – loud on boasts, empty on substance. The woeful and embarrassing performance of the ADC in the recent by-elections should give them no cause for hope. They need to first learn to be humble before they inevitably bite the dust in 2027.”

“In 2027, Lagosians and Nigerians will once again choose consistency over confusion, credibility over contradictions, and competence over comedy. The APC will be rewarded for delivery, while Aregbe and his ADC will be reminded that betrayal is not a political strategy. Ogbeni Aregbesola’s rant is less a threat to the APC and more a public obituary of his own political relevance. By turning his back on the progressive family that made him, he has written himself out of history and into the footnotes of infamy.” (The PUNCH)