Displaying items by tag: Afenifere

...,warns against gang-up

The pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, yesterday, said any attempt to deny the South-East the presidency in 2023 is a gang-up against the region dominated by Igbo.

Afenifere leader, Pa Ayo Adebanjo, in a chat with Sunday Vanguard, said those opposed to Igbo President are discriminatory against the region.

The statement was interpreted in many politically informed circles to mean that the group may not back a Yoruba aspirant for the nation’s highest office in 2023. 

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and All Progressives Congress  (APC) National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, are believed to be main contenders in the race to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari from the South-West while Senator Pius Anyim and Governor Dave Umahi among others from the South-East and also eyeing Aso Rock Villa..

Whereas Tinubu has publicly declared his ambition, Osinbajo is said to be considering running against his mentor who was single handedly responsible for his nomination to run as deputy to Buhari first in 2015 and later in 2019.

Adebanjo said: “If there is anything like power shift in Nigeria, it should go to the South-East. There is doubt about that, any other thing is just gang-up.

“There should not be any argument about that because the South-West has gotten it, the North has gotten, South-South has gotten it. You want the Igbo to remain in Nigeria but you want to discriminate against them. 

“There should be no argument about where power should shift to, it should go to the South-East. Any other thing is gang-up.”

[VANGUARD]

Chief Ayo Adebanjo, acting National Leader of the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, has said that the Department of State Service is behaving like a department under a dictatorship.

Adebanjo said this on the Morning Show on Arise Television on Thursday.

According to him, President Muhammadu Buhari is chasing Sunday Adeyemo, aka Sunday Igboho and Nnamdi Kanu around but he is negotiating with robbers, armed bandits who are troubling the country making security unstable.

He described the invasion of  Igboho’s house, as undemocratic, stressing that he didn’t know the offence that Igboho has committed for which he is being haunted by the federal government.

Afenifere leader said, “People cannot celebrate Sallah because of insecurity; prices of things are going high because of insecurity. His Department of Security Services (DSS) and other security agencies cannot get to where the bandits are but when it comes to opposition asking legitimately for secession, they are very active. It is very shameful.”

When fielded questions about the arrest of Sunday Igboho was a declaration of war in Yoruba land, Chief Adebanjo said, “The DSS is behaving like a department under a dictatorship. What is his offence? He has been holding meetings in Akure, in Oshogbo and other places, without causing any problem.

“What he did, is it different to what the Scottish Nationalist Party, a party that wanted separation from Britain, having been together since 1707, in fact since 1603, did in the United Kingdom, and now the party says they want to separate, but Boris Johnson has not arrested the leader of the party?

“He has not accused them of a treasonable felony or anything of the sort. In a democratic society, the worst that they can do is to go for a referendum, which they lost narrowly by 55 to 45.

“They are still agitating to have another referendum and they are in the same parliament with Boris Johnson. What criminal offence has Sunday Ighoho committed except that we are in a country under President Buhari’s dictatorial government?
 
Faulting the National Assembly, Adebanjo said, “Look at the kind of bills they are passing in the parliament, in a democracy and they are talking with pride about their actions.

“They are only disgracing this country by that action because all democratic societies are aware that this kind of thing is not done in a democratic setting.

“The constitution that we have is a fraudulent constitution and I gave my reason and it has not been refuted. Everything causing disharmony today in the country is under the imposed constitution by the military in 1966.

The Spokesman of the Afenifere Renewal Group and Popular activist, Mr Yinka Odumakin is dead.

The National Publicity Secretary of the pan-Yoruba group Odumakin, died at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital Covid Isolation Centre.

The late Odumakin was married to fellow activist, Joe-Okei Odumakin in 1997.

According to family sources, he died after a brief illness.

He was said to have been on ventilator for days before giving up the ghost this morning after battling Covid 19 for days.

He played a major role in the National Democratic Coalition that fought the regime of late military head of state, General Sani Abacha, after the annulment of the June 12, 1993 election.

Odumakin’s voice was heard through the dark years of military despotism.