The chief of Afenifere, a pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Pa Ayo Adebanjo, has reiterated why the crew will proceed to assist the Labour Party presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi, amongst different candidates in the approaching 2023 General Election.
The Afenifere chieftain had beforehand declared help of the team for the LP presidential candidate in an on line radio programme, ‘Yoruba Gbode’, the place he said, “Peter Obi can rule independently besides the impact of these criminals in the government, stressing, “Tinubu will solely provide continuity to Buhari’s incompetence.”
In a assertion made reachable to The PUNCH on Monday, September 26, 2022, titled, “Why Afenifere Supports South East Presidential Candidate for 2023 Presidency” in response to the spokesperson for the All Progressives Presidential Campaign Council, Mr Bayo Onanuga’s Facebook publish accusing him (Adebanjo) of speakme for himself and no longer the group, Adebanjo said, “Before the political events carried out their primaries, a journalist asked, what is my view about the 2023 ordinary election? I answered and stated the us of a have to be restructured earlier than the widely wide-spread election, and he accompanied up with the aid of asking if there ought to be an election, which sector ought to the Presidency come from? And I unhesitatingly said, of course, the South-East.
“After the primaries and the candidates emerged with Asiwaju Bola Tinubu from the South-West, APC; Atiku Abubakar on the platform of the PDP and Peter Obi on the platform of Labour Party and I introduced Afenifere’s assist for Peter Obi, now not a few Yoruba leaders query why I need to be helping Peter Obi, a candidate of the Igbo extraction in opposition to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, a Yoruba.”
Adebanjo defined that the presidency is now not a contest between the Yoruba and the Igbo, including that Afenifere is a Yoruba interpretation of the social welfarist ideology of the then Action Group, a political birthday party based via Chief Obafemi Awolowo and his colleagues in 1951 which endorsed federalism as the first-rate shape of authorities to allow the federating devices the autonomy to thrive and for peace to in the end dwell in the country.
Continuing, Adebanjo asserted that the team used to be contributing to shaping Nigeria into a federation the place no man or woman or ethnic nationality would be sidelined or oppressed.
“In the countdown to the 2023 General Election, lengthy earlier than the events performed their Conventions to choose their National Executives and candidates, we had insisted and nonetheless recommend restructuring earlier than the elections proposing a synthesis of the same Resolutions of the 2014 National Conference and the APC El-Rufai 2018 True Federalism Committee.
“We did this as Afenifere and on the wider spectrum of the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum.
“We did this, when politicians, in spite of the enormous crises confronting the nation, carried on as if the attainment of energy was once all that mattered, the SMBLF unanimously proposed that the minimal circumstance for a peaceable transition from the disastrous eight years of Buhari’s authorities headed by using a President of northern extraction was once to have the subsequent President from the South.”
The nonagenarian maintained that the quest for peace based totally on fairness and inclusiveness had resulted in Yoruba taking the first flip of zoning association in 1999 that introduced in former President Olusegun Obasanjo, and the North taking a turn, rotating again to Yoruba being the Vice President below a President from the northwest axis whilst the South-East is marginalised.
He, however, appealed for presidential energy to be ceded to the Igbo human beings of the South-East considering electricity has turned around lower back to the South for equity.
“Peter Obi is the man or woman of Igbo extraction that Afenifere has determined to guide and back. He is the man we have faith to restructure the usa returned to federalism on the assumption of office.
“To preserve Nigeria one, each person have to be Obi-Datti compliant,” he added.
