Afenifere insists on true federalism, slams secessionist agitations

The Pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, has reiterated calls for the entrenchment of true federalism, while stating that it is not in support of secession or the disintegration of the country.

This was stated during a press briefing by the Afenifere leader, Pa Ayo Adebanjo, in Lagos on Thursday.

Pa Adebanjo further appealed to the Federal Government to consider this appeal in order to redress the challenges bedevilling the country.

“We are not anarchists; we are not secessionists. We recognise that there is a democratically-elected government.

“However, it is the considered position of Afenifere that the president urgently constitutes a Government of National Unity solely to undertake the restructuring of Nigeria, in consultation with the Nigerian peoples.

“The issue of restructuring is about our freedom. We are democrats. I don’t want violence. I don’t want the country to break,’’ the 93-year-old Yoruba leader said.

Adebanjo also decried the level of insecurity across the country, which he said a restructured Nigeria would resolve.

The Yoruba leader also called for a sovereign national conference on restructuring and said that the country must be returned to the 1960 Independence Constitution before the 2023 general elections.

Read also: Afenifere knocks Tinubu, Osoba, Akande over derailment of restructuring

“The Nigeria that was agreed is one that was deliberately federal in structure. The Nigeria that was agreed was by design, based on a parliamentary system of government.

“The Nigeria that was agreed was one that recognised the rights of the federating regions to nationhood within the ambit of the federation that was birthed.

“It was the position of Afenifere and the National Democratic Coalition that there existed an urgent need for a sovereign national conference of ethnic nationalities that have become known as Nigerians.

“We remain convinced that the need for a sovereign national conference is imperative. The basis of the Nigerian state must be clearly negotiated,’’ he stressed.

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