Some Yoruba leaders were yesterday split over support for the presidential candidate of Labour Party, LP, Mr Peter, Obi in the 2023 elections.
While the leader of the pan Yoruba socio-political organization, Afenifere, Pa Ayo Adebanjo, and former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Olu Falae, threw their weight behind Mr Obi, the Yoruba Council of Elders, YCE, Afenifere Renewal Group, ARG and leader of the Ilana Omo Oodua, IOO, Professor Banji Akintoye expressed divergent views.
The Afenifere leader, Adebanjo, who addressed newsmen in Lagos, said the Yoruba body will not compromise its principle of equity, justice and inclusiveness because “one of our own, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, is a frontline candidate.”
According to him, “he is the man we trust to restructure the country back to federalism on the assumption of office in 2023.”
He said Afenifere’s decision to support Peter Obi is because power is yet to shift to the South-East.
Justifying the Yoruba body’s position for a South-East presidency, he said: “Before the political parties conducted their primaries, a journalist asked what my views about the 2023 general election are.
“I answered and said the country should be restructured before the general election, and he followed up by asking if there should be an election, which zone should 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 PDP and Peter Obi on the platform of Labour Party and I announced Afenifere’s support for Peter Obi, not a few Yoruba leaders questioned why I should be supporting Peter Obi, a candidate of Igbo extraction against Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, a Yoruba.
“I took my time to explain that the presidency is not a contest between the Yoruba and the Igbo and to a large extent, I was able to convince many.
“But ever since, the social media has been filled with comments tending to ethnicize the campaign, instead of making it issue-based.”
Explaining what influenced Afenifere’s decision to support Obi, Adebanjo said: “We cannot continue to demand that the Igbo people remain in Nigeria, while we at the same time continue to brutally marginalize and exclude them from the power dynamic.
“Peter Obi is the person of Igbo extraction that Afenifere has decided to support, he is the man we trust to restructure the country back to federalism on the assumption of office.
“We will not compromise this principle of justice, equity and inclusiveness because one of our own, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, is a frontline candidate.
“It is on this same principle, we condemn the PDP for sponsoring Atiku Abubakar, a Northern Fulani Muslim to succeed General Muhammadu Buhari, another Fulani Muslim who will soon complete eight years of uneventful and disastrous rule. One can imagine such a high degree of political insensitivity.
“On our part, we are certainly not alien to sacrificing personal interests in the quest for a National coalition to put Nigeria on the proper pedestal.
“In this regard, the starting point is Southern solidarity for which we first enacted a handshake across the Niger, which had dovetailed to the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum.
“We enjoin the labour movement, students, youth organisations, women associations, and every institution whose foundation is built on fairness and justice to join hands in this task of enthroning a democratic government by supporting Peter Obi.
“If we are sincere and honest about keeping Nigeria together in peace, the slogan henceforth should be ‘’To keep Nigeria one, everyone should be Obi/Datti compliant.
“In the final analysis, let it be said that we have no apologies but due courage of our conviction that Nigeria can only prosper in righteousness.
“For me, in the twilight of my sojourn on earth at 94, it is too late to derail me on the track of true federalism and national inclusiveness on which I have travelled for over 70 years of my life as one of the few surviving initial prophets. I prefer to ascend on a chariot of fire, fueled by justice and equity.”
