An elder statesman Ayo Adebanjo accuses APC national leader, Bola Tinubu, of compromising the interest of Yoruba nation for selfish ambition. Nigeria Tinubu Adebanjo
Chief Ayo Adebanjo, an elder statesman and one of the leaders of the Pan Yoruba group, Afenifere, spoke on the crisis in the group and the disloyalty that led to the establishment of Afenifere Renewal Group . He accused national leader of the All Progressives Congress , Bola Tinubu of compromising the interest of Yoruba nation for selfish ambition. SEYE OLUMIDE reports.Afenifere seems to have lost touch with the Yoruba nation, which it claims to be advocating for.
There was a primary initiated and influenced by Ige for the presidency, which held at D’Rovans Hotel, when former Secretary to the Government of the Federation , Chief Olu Falae won. The funny thing was that Ige thought he would win and he actually had the chances to win, from the composition of the Electoral College. About five or six of the members of the college were Ige’s former commissioners. This is the original story and not the tainted stories Oshun and co are telling you.
For Lagos, we invited leaders from Oyo and Ondo States. At the end of the exercise, Tinubu was declared winner, but there were issues because the votes from Ikorodu and Mainland were not counted. If those votes had been counted, Funso Williams would have won. However, INEC observers said they were not at Ikorodu and Mainland, and Pa Adesanya said where there was doubt we should leave out. Once INEC representatives said they were not in any place, we left out.
The issue was that, when the governors came into office, they no longer wanted to accept the principle of party supremacy. Some of them were doing a lot of things that Afenifere leadership was not satisfied with, including their performance. We set up a panel of enquiry, which included Gen. Alani Akinrinade to do a report on the governors’ performance and the outcome was not satisfactory to us. We were only trying to maintain the type of discipline we had in the Action Group days.
No, it was the collegiate leadership of the Yoruba nation, which Awolowo bequeathed before he died that Ige undermined because he lost the presidential ticket to Falae. Bola Ige was among the few followers of Papa Awolowo that supplemented Awolowo’s kind of leadership qualities. When Obasanjo formed his cabinet in 1999, he appointed Ige, and I was one of those who were opposed to it and Ige knew.
I’m only tracing how Bola Ige was responsible for the crisis in Afenifere, backed by Obasanjo. The party members knew what we stood for, but because they were getting some benefits from the governors, majority of them neglected us, especially in Lagos, until Tinubu led them to form Action Congress . Anyway that was the main reason we supported Obasanjo’s second term. It was Segun Osoba who came to us and said Obasanjo was seeking our cooperation. But Cornelius Adebayo said if he wanted our cooperation, we would give him on the condition that he would convene a Sovereign National Conference for the restructuring of Nigeria. This is a very important point and I want anybody to refute it.
They are only trying to be clever by half. Yes, there was a retreat and we agreed that if it was aimed at resolving the crisis, we were ready. Prof. Wale Adebanwi was the guest speaker and many others attended, but the conference was inconclusive. However, we stood on principle, which the governors whom we sponsored and put in office didn’t want to abide by. Unknown to some people then, ARG was sponsored. They wanted to use it to supplant Afenifere leadership and elect new leaders.
If you want to hear the fact, Tinubu has sold the Yoruba nation. All that we opposed in feudalism and in President Muhammadu Buhari is what he has sold out. The restructuring we are clamouring for and which he used to make a case, when Obasanjo seized the council funds meant for Lagos even up to the Supreme Court, is what he has sold out. And the fact that this current Vice President who took Obasanjo to court is with Tinubu is saddening.
The Yoruba people must know that what Tinubu is doing is selling them out and we will not be a party to it. After helping Buhari to get into government, ask him if he knows how Buhari formed the government. Does he know how Babatunde Fashola became a minister? Does he know how Kayode Fayemi became a minister? All Buhari is doing is to bring another leader that is in control; he does not like Tinubu again.
Today, people might say I’m one of the greatest opponents of Buhari, but did you know we supported him to become the president before? Afenifere campaigned for Buhari in 2007, when he promised to restructure. I’ve been reporting this since 2014 and he has not denied it. We bought the Aso Oke to campaign for him at Adamasingba Stadium in Ibadan. We want to work together in Nigeria, but the issue of the horse and the rider will never happen.
Tinubu is selling young men’s future for his own glory. He doesn’t care what happens. Presently, how many sections are there in APC? Even among themselves, the people who want to rule the country know the truth; they just believe that because they are in office, they can continue patching it. A government that fails to protect lives and properties has no right to be in office, and the situation in the country today warrants that Buhari should resign now. He has no right to be in office. Kadaria Ahmed said the people in the President’s part of the country cannot sleep with their their two eyes closed. The Boko Haram he told us he would finish when Jonathan was there is waxing stronger.
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