Categories: Top Stories

2023 Presidency: We’re United On Peter Obi’s Endorsement, Afenifere Replies Akeredolu

The pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has said its endorsement of the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, was a well-considered corporate decision.

Afenifere made this known in a statement issued on Monday by its Secretary General, Chief Sola Ebiseni while reacting to a statement credited to Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State.

 

Advertisement

Recall that Akredolu had said Afenifere doesn’t speak for the Yoruba people on the endorsement of the former Governor of Anambra State and that the organisation is divided on the purported endorsement.

According to the statement, Afenifere said it does not have the power to impose any candidate on Yoruba people and will not speak for them on the candidate to support.

Advertisement

The group said it decided to support Obi as a result of his verifiable records as a former governor of Anambra State, adding that he is the most competent and suitable.

Afeniefere reiterated his stance that the next President of Nigeria should be from the Southern region in the interest of fairness, justice and equity.

Advertisement

The statement read in part, “The attention of Afenifere has been drawn to the statement credited to Akeredolu on the Afenifere’s endorsement of Obi for the 2023 presidential election.

“To start with, we wish to reiterate the principled stance of the Afenifere that the next President of Nigeria should be from the South, and all things equitably considered, from the South-East, for which we consider Obi by his verifiable records as a two-term governor of Anambra State, the most competent and suitable. It is a well-considered corporate decision debated for over a year of regular monthly meetings, validly conveyed in the best tradition of the organisation.

Advertisement

While we have our respect for Akeredolu and his colleagues of the Southern Governors Forum, which he leads, on their stand that it is only equitable that the next President of Nigeria after eight years of Buhari of Northern Nigeria extraction, should come from the South, we will not lend our support to those who betray that cause for the lucre of vice presidential porridge or those who see equity only from the parochial prism of their ethnic benefits.

“We wish to state for the umpteenth time that Afenifere is not an apolitical Yoruba socio-cultural organisation but, from its inception, political machinery as the embodiment of the worldview of the Awolowo School of Thought on how Nigeria, a country of ancient and entrenched nationalities, may best be equitably, inclusively and peacefully governed. These thoughts are encapsulated in the theory and practice of true federalism in its equitable and logical dimensions.

Advertisement

“Finally, let it be said that Afenifere is not alone in this decision that the next President should be from the South and South-East specifically. Afenifere conveyed its resolution through a press conference on September 26, 2022, and the Middle Belt Forum which converged in the Jos Township Stadium on September 28.

“Other ethnic nationality organisations, particularly of the Southern and Middle Belt Forum, of which Afenifere is a member and other well-meaning Nigerian leaders, are in agreement with this resolution which the nation needs most for an all-inclusive sense of belonging and attendant peaceful coexistence.”

Advertisement
Sola Adeyemo

Recent Posts

Tinubu promotes Acting Chief of Army Staff, Oluyede to Lt Gen

President Bola Tinubu has promoted the acting Chief of Army Staff, Olufemi Oluyede to the…

3 hours ago

Digital Transformation: Maida, Kekere-Ekun Speak At NCC’s Annual Workshop for Judges in Lagos

Welcome Address Delivered at the 2024 Edition of the Judges Workshop at Sheraton Hotel Ikeja,…

8 hours ago

Breaking: House Of Reps Finance Committee Visits FIRS

The House of Representatives Finance Committee has paid a working visit to the headquarters of…

10 hours ago

BREAKING: Tinubu govt drops treason charges against EndBadGovernance protesters

  The Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed the treason charges brought against the…

14 hours ago

#USRoadToWhiteHouse2024: Trump-Harris polls remain tied in battleground states…

What to know about the end of the #USElection2024 campaign The most recent polling analysis…

14 hours ago

#USElection2024 Live Updates: Trump Vs Harris…Latest Results…Latest Polls

#US election 2024 Live Updates:  What you need to know about USelection2024 latest polls •…

14 hours ago