One unique thing about Gboyega Oyetola is that he had never contested for election until now, despite his long, storied history with politics. Another thing is that he is reportedly the brain behind the Aregbesola administration, doing the careful technocratic jobs from behind the scenes.
Most importantly, the secret behind Oyetola is the National Leader of APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who is his cousin. It was gathered that Tinubu’s mother and Oyetola’s are of the same father.
Also, Oyetola, like Aregbesola, is one of the trusted Asiwaju men; he is reportedly quiet and unassuming, hence the resolve of the Asiwaju to see to the victory of his cousin by temporarily relocating to Osogbo, where he worked day and night till the late hours of Thursday when the final result was declared.
Notwithstanding the controversial outcome of the election, Oyetola, the Chief of Staff to the out-going governor for eight years, has become a man of history, retaining the seat of power in the Sunshine State, a terrain he is totally familiar with, going by the strategic office he occupied.
For eight years, Oyetola worked with the out-going governor and he is part and parcel of the government in Osun until his resignation recently to enable him pursue his ambition. His defeat would have been excruciating for the ruling APC which believed Oyetola’s victory was fait accompli with him building on the legacies of the outgoing governor.
“As Chief of Staff, he acquitted himself so perfectly well with governance and its intricacies that he was practically into everything in the government, especially during Aregbesola’s second term in office,” said a government insider.
He was born on September 29, 1954, in Iragbiji, Boripe local government area of the state. He bagged a Bachelor’s degree in Insurance in 1978 and a Master’s of Business Administration (MBA) in Finance in 1990, both from the University of Lagos.
Oyetola was in Potiskum in present day Yobe State for his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme in 1980. His CV shows that he started his professional career as an Insurance Broker with Leadway Assurance Company. Although he started as an Assistant Manager, he quickly rose to become Area Manager, Control Office, Lagos. He was also at Crusader Insurance as Underwriting Manager and Corporate Alliance Insurance as Controller Technical.
Oyetola reportedly set up his own firm, Silvertrust Insurance Brokers in 1990. He was also Executive Vice Chairman of Paragon Group of Companies. He was appointed Chief of Staff to Governor Rauf Aregbesola in 2011. He was also a founding member of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) in 1998.
