Afenifere retracts comment criticizing Tinubu’s Supreme Court victory.

The leadership of Afenifere, a pan-Yoruba socio-political organization, has distanced itself from a statement made public by Chief Sola Ebiseni, the organization’s general secretary, in which the group purportedly criticized the Supreme Court’s decision to affirm President Bola Tinubu’s victory.

The National Organising Secretary of the organization, Otunba Kole Omololu, released a statement on Thursday claiming that Chief Reuben Fasoranti and other group officials were unaware of and did not approve of Ebiseni’s press release.

The statement read, “The world will recall that the Leader of Afenifere himself, Chief Reuben Fasoranti, had congratulated the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces on his election into office, and also expressed solidarity over his victory at the apex court. “It is then clearly underhanded and mischievous to have such preposterous attack on the judiciary by intemperate elements within the fold, fanning the embers of national discords with political motives, using the name of Afenifere.”

According to the statement, Pa Ayo Adebanjo, the group’s interim head, is required to submit to his commander, Fasoranti, without hesitation, in accordance with the natural and traditional order of Afenifere.

The statement continued, “To do otherwise is to tread such an ignoble path in national discourse as this unfortunate release reveals.”

The communique partly read, “Nigeria is a federation of entrenched ethnic nationalities which has failed to evolve into a nation because of the deviation from the foundational principles of federalism.

“Except Nigeria is ruled based on true federalism which guarantees inclusiveness, fairness, egalitarianism, justice and a sense of belonging to all its constituent groups, it will remain a mere geographical expression with no sense of common nationalism and patriotism.

“In this connection, the only way forward is to change the military constitution now and re-enact a constitution in line with the foundational federal principles.

“Except this is done now and quickly, all the errors that occasioned the type of electoral shenanigans witnessed during the 2023 general elections and the technical judgement by the Supreme Court legitimising the same will fester ad infitum.”