By Jeffrey Agbo

The leader of the pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, has disclosed the group’s reason for not supporting the presidential candidates, Bola Tinubu and Atiku Abubakar.

Adebanjo said in a statement on Monday that Afenifere stands on justice and fairness and believes in true federalism and the Federal Character principle.

The group has been receiving backlash since announcing it was supporting the candidacy of Peter Obi.

Adebanjo, however, said in the statement that Afenifere “is the Yoruba interpretation of the social welfarist ideology of Action Group, a political party founded by Chief Obafemi Awolowo and his colleagues in 1951 with strong advocacy for federalism as the best form of government to give the federating units the requisite autonomy to thrive and peacefully compete among themselves for the ultimate development of Nigeria.”

He said other founding fathers of Nigeria — Sir Ahmadu Bello, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, and Chief Obafemi Awolowo — agreed to the system with the endorsement of colonial secretary Sir Oliver Littleton in 1954 “and embodied in the 1960 independence constitution. This is the modest contribution of Afenifere in shaping Nigeria into a federation where no person or ethnic nationality is oppressed.”

The nonagenarian said Afenifere had always advocated and insisted on restructuring of the country “long before the parties conducted their Conventions to elect their National Executives and candidates,” and had proposed “a synthesis of the identical Resolutions of the 2014 National Conference and the APC El-Rufai 2018 True Federalism Committee.”

Adebanjo said Afenifere and the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum “unanimously proposed that the minimum condition for a peaceful transition from the disastrous eight years of Buhari’s government headed by a President of northern extraction was to have the next President from the South,” a position which, he said, was supported by southern governors irrespective of their political parties.

He added, “In this quest for peace, based on equity and inclusiveness, the Yoruba took the first turn at the zoning arrangement in 1999, and that led to the emergence of Chief (Olusegun) Obasanjo, the current Vice President is a Yoruba man and equity forbids us for presuming to support another Yoruba person for the presidency in 2023.

“The current President is a Fulani from the North-West and by virtue of the zoning arrangement that has governed Nigeria since 1999, power is supposed to return to the south imminently.

“The South-West, as I have pointed out, has produced a president and currently sits as VP, the South-South has spent a total of six years in the Presidency, but the Igbo people of the South-East have never tasted presidency in Nigeria, and now that the power is due back in the South, equity demands that it be ceded to the Igbo.

We cannot continue to demand that the Igbo people remain in Nigeria, while we at the same time continue to brutally marginalise and exclude them from the power dynamics.”

Adebanjo, therefore, condemned the ceding of the PDP presidential ticket to “a Northern Fulani Muslim to succeed General Muhammadu Buhari, another Fulani Muslim, who will soon complete eight years of uneventful and disastrous rule. One can imagine such a high degree of political insensitivity.”

The Afenifere leader also stated that the group would not jettison equity, inclusiveness and justice just because one of their own — Asiwaju Bola Tinubu — was in the contest.

“We will not compromise this principle of justice, equity and inclusiveness because one of our own Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is a frontline candidate,” Adebanjo said.

Adebanjo, who said Afenifere had “no apologies but due courage of our conviction that Nigeria can only prosper in righteousness,” reiterated that, “To keep Nigeria one, everyone should be Obi/Datti compliant,” and advocated that that should be the slogan henceforth.

(Theniche)

Not satisfied with the choice of words of Festus Keyamo, President Muhammadu Buhari and members of the Aso Rock cabal have called for his removal as the spokesperson for the All Progressives Congress (APC)/Bola Ahmed Tinubu Presidential Campaign Council.

SaharaReporters quoting a presidential source, said Buhari and members of the cabal accused Festus Keyamo of always de-marketing the current administration despite being a serving minister.

“Buhari has asked for the removal of Festus Keyamo as the party’s campaign spokesperson. The President accused him of always de-marketing his regime, describing the government in which he is a minister as a failed regime. He has been described as a loose cannon who is daily demarketing his regime as a failed regime. The cabal members are not happy,” the source said.

For instance, on Sunday, during an interview on Channels Television, Keyamo said Nigerians are hungry and can’t wait to have a new leader who would satisfy their hunger.

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, in Lagos State, Joe Igbokwe, has expressed worry over the class of people the party recognises, stressing that APC reward system is poor.

Though Igbokwe didn’t mention why he made the statement, but it’s coming shortly after the party released its Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) for the 2023 general elections.

The 422-member council list, was released on Friday by the PCC Secretary, James Faleke; a member of the House of Representatives.

The likes of Femi Fani Kayode, who defected to the APC last year and Senator representing Enugu East Senatorial District, Chimaroke Nnamani, who is a member of the PDP and the candidate of the party (PDP) for Enugu East senatorial zone made the list.

Following weeks of anxiety and serial postponements, the presidential campaign council list of the flagbearer of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, was released with several notable names of party chieftains missing.

The 422-man list has names of political heavyweights including APC governors, ministers, lawmakers, ambassadors as well as serving and past public office holders.

In the latest list released by the Presidential Campaign Council Secretary, James Faleke, in Abuja on Friday night, Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong, retained his position as Director-General just as Deputy Director-General (Operations), Adams Oshiomhole, and Director of Media and Publicity, Bayo Onanuga.

However, there are shocking omission of party stalwarts, many of whom have been at loggerheads or engaged in cold war with Tinubu over his preference for the contentious Muslim-Muslim ticket.

They include Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara; former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal; former Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba and one of Tinubu’s sweat merchant, Adebayo Shittu, who heads one of his biggest support groups — Asiwaju Tinubu-Shettima Coalition for Good Governance.

While the camp of Osinbajo had distanced itself from the former Lagos governor after his emergence as winner of the APC presidential ticket, the duo of Dogara and Lawal had remained a perennial thorn in Tinubu’s flesh for selecting ex-Borno Governor Senator Kashim Shettima, a fellow Muslim, as running mate.

Dogara had predicted on Tuesday that the adoption of a Muslim-Muslim ticket was a fruitless political effort that was “doomed to end in spectacular failure.”

Entertainer and activist, Charles Oputa, popularly known as Charly Boy, has provided his reason for joining the ‘Obidient’ movement ahead of the 2023 general elections.

According to the 72-year-old activist, who spoke to Akelicious during the week, the current administration has failed Nigerians and has given no hope for the common man. hence the search for change.

Charly boy believes strongly that Peter Obi, a former Anambra State Governor and presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, would bring about the socio-economic changes the country requires to move from where it is now.

Peter Obi is not running a campaign. He is leading a movement.

Let me tell you the difference in case you don’t know.

1. Campaigns end as soon as the results of elections are announced. Movements continue thereafter.

2. Campaigns are driven by politicians while movements are driven by the people.

4. Campaigns are driven by interest while movements are driven by convictions

4. In Campaigns people follow a politician selfishly because they believe he/ she will win but in movements, the people follow selflessly because they believe the people will win.

5. In campaigns ,people follow a person while in a movement people follow ideology.

6. In campaigns politicians tell the people what they will do but in a movement the people know what the person they are following will do.

7. In a campaign, people who cast their vote believe they are doing a politician a favour but in a movement they know they are doing themselves a favour.

8. In a campaign, politicians build structures but in a movement the people build the structure and infact,everyone is a structure.

9. In campaigns we rely on politicians to convince us to get involved,we have people with apathy but in a movement people find motivation from within. Everyone is bold.

10. Campaigns come with a plan from day one but Movements don’t. They are spontaneous. They build momentum that becomes the plan.

11. Campaigns are like T.V advertisement politicians pay to get people in, but a movement is like a premiership match,the people pay to get in at their own expenses.

12. In a campaign people who oppose you or make a caricature of your campaign are usually confident but in a movement,people who oppose you or make caricature of the movement are scared of it.

PETER OBI IS A MOVEMENT. I AM PART OF THAT MOVEMENT. BE ALSO A PART OF THE MOVEMENT.
NOW IS THE TIME. STAND UP AND BE COUNTED .”

Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers, says Iyorchia Ayu, national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), received N1 billion from one of the presidentialhopefuls in the party.

The governor made the allegation during a media chat on Friday.

He said Ayu is corrupt, and that the chairman cannot deny that he received the money but refused to remit it to the party’s account.

“Ayu is very corrupt. I’m totally informed. Ayu has theopportunity to challenge me, I will name,” he said.

Some of the governors can tell you. Will he deny thefact that he didn’t collect N1 billion from Lagos? Let him deny it, I will tell him who gave him the money not from the Lagos state government, the money was given to him in Lagos.

“He met one of the presidential candidates and told him that he’s not sure these governors may want to sponsor the party.

That money did not enter into the account of PDP, but we are not attacking Ayu on that basis.”

Wike had contested the PDP presidential primary election in May but lost to Atiku Abubakar.

Other hopefuls in the primaries were Bukola Saraki, former senate president; Bala Mohammed, Bauchi governor; Udom Emmanuel, Akwa Ibom governor; Pius Anyim, Sam Ohuabunwa, Ayodele Fayose, and Dele Momodu.

(Chrysora)