2023: Afenifere leader, Adebanjo, lauds Obasanjo’s endorsement of Obi, insists on power shift to S’East

The leader of the Pan-Yoruba sociopolitical group, Afenifere, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, on Monday, said failure to vote the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, in the forthcoming election will land the country in trouble.

Adebanjo, who stated this in a chat with newsmen, lauded the recent endorsement of Obi by former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

The Yoruba group had last year declared its support for the former Anambra State Governor in the interest of equity and fairness.

The elder statesman insisted the decision of the group was in keeping with the principle of power shift guiding the country since its return to democracy.

Speaking on the recent endorsement, Adebanjo said it was wrong for another Northerner to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in May.

He also maintained there was no justification for the APC Presidential Candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to contest when Obasanjo, from the South-West was President for eight years.

Read also:Afenifere tackles Akeredolu for opposing Yoruba Nation agitation

He said: “How are you going to justify Tinubu when Obasanjo had spent eight years? Or how do you justify Atiku when another Northerner is leaving the place? That’s the crux of the matter. The South-West has done, South-South has done, is South-East not part of Nigeria?

“Don’t bring in ethnicity. I said it in my statement. If it is about ethnicity, I should support Tinubu. I made him the governor but I am not supporting him as President. Yoruba people don’t cheat others.

“We cannot talk of a united Nigeria when the South-East has not had it. I am not like Atiku who said he wants to keep Nigeria. How can you do that when you are denying a part of Nigeria its right?

“If they vote outside Obi, Nigeria will be in trouble. Anything outside Obi, we are in trouble.”

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