Chief Ayo Adebanjo, the acting head of Afenifere, received criticism yesterday for rejecting the support of Southwest leaders for Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the APC’s presidential candidate.
The leaders, which included the chieftains of Afenifere, the Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE), and other organizations, claimed that Adebanjo, who had privately endorsed Peter Obi for president of the Labour Party (LP), was acting alone.
They emphasized that Pa Reuben Fasoranti, the head of the Afenifere people, who held the gathering in Akure, could not be overruled by Adebanjo’s personal view or unilateral decision.
Prominent Afenifere chieftains also asserted that Fasoranti remains the group’s head and that any decisions made by Adebanjo without his input are invalid.
According to a group insider, Adebanjo’s role as acting leader may be terminated due to his polarizing personality and autocratic management style.
The Akure endorsement had drawn a frown from Adebanjo and the Atiku Campaign Organization, who declared that it would not hold up.
The group supports Obi, according to Adebanjo, who spoke on the Channels Television program Politics Today, because of its devotion to equity, fairness, and justice.
Tinubu will win the election, according to Fasoranti, who prayed for the APC nominee at the Akure meeting.
Adebanjo, who denied that Tinubu was endorsed, asserted that Fasoranti just invited Tinubu to stay at his house in recognition of his senior status.
He said that the visit was an effort to divide the organization and that he did not want Fasoranti’s approval before announcing Afenifere’s support for Obi.
Despite being invited to the Akure summit, Adebanjo declined to go, said: “What happened yesterday was an attempt to split Afenifere and I won’t be a party to that. I can tell you that the planned visit was meant to get Afenifere divided. They were on it about a month ago.
“Afenifere is not a cultural group for the Yoruba, but a body that believes in federalism. Our own position for the Southeast is in line with our belief on federalism.”
Asked if Fasoranti ratified Afenifere’s stance on Obi, Adebanjo said: “I don’t have to consult Pa Fasoroti over the endorsement of Peter Obi. Pa Fasoranti has handed over after he said he was tired. Will he still be giving the group instruction?”
Also, the Atiku/Okowa Presidential Campaign Organisation, in a statement by its spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, described the endorsement of Tinubu by Southwest leaders as a “failed attempt to procure reputable Southwest leaders to support his presidential ambition.”
However, Fasoranti is still in charge of the pan-Yoruba socio-political organization, according to Afenifere’s National Organising Secretary, Abagun Kole Omololu, who also maintained that any endorsement made without his consent was false.
He emphasized that any decision made jointly under his guardianship is preferable to any unilateral decision made by the acting leader and that Afenifere cannot have another leader while the current leader is still alive.
Omololu pointed out that Chief Adebanjo was selected by Fasoranti in an acting capacity and said the leader might also order him not to perform again.
Adebanjo said that he could not contact Fasoranti before making any decisions, but the organizing secretary Omololu disagreed, claiming that this goes against the group’s tradition.
The organizing secretary made it clear that Adebanjo was the only one to publicly support Obi.
Before his party’s primary in Abuja, Omololu recalled that Tinubu was the sole presidential candidate to consult the Afenifere leader.
He recalled that after he had won the ticket, Fasoranti had requested him to return for a blessing.
Adebanjo’s assertion that attendees of the Akure meeting were not Afenifere chieftains was also refuted by Omololu.
He claimed that the leaders of the Southwest who overran Akure were trustworthy individuals highly regarded by their kin.
The six Southwest states of Oyo, Ondo, Ogun, Osun, Ekiti, and Lagos as well as Kwara and Kogi were represented at the Akure summit, according to Omololu, in a respectable manner.
According to him, no one in Yorubaland has the authority to wave away the dismissal of Chief Olu Falae, Chief Segun Osoba, General Alani Akinrinade, General Olu Bajowa, Archbishop Ayo Ladigbolu, Senator Cornelius Adebayo, and Chief Seinde Arogbofa.
At the meeting, YCE leader Dr. Kunle Olajide stated that he personally disagreed with Adebanjo’s decision to not support Tinubu.
Eminent physician Olajide advised Nigerians to view Adebanjo’s assertion as his own personal opinion.
He said: “The assemblage of Yoruba leaders and elders that gathered in Chief Fasoranti’s house in Akure endorsed Asiwaju Bola Tinubu for presidency and declared unalloyed support for his bid.
“Nothing can be clearer. Individuals can have their own candidates. But as far as those leaders who gathered under the banner of Afenifere in Akure on Sunday were concerned, they made it abundantly clear that we are solidly behind Tinubu. No shaking.
“That must be his personal opinion or position; we took a joint decision and we expect it to be bound on all. But, we cannot compel anyone. It is a free world. Individuals can take personal positions. But the endorsement was the position of Yoruba leaders and elders as far as we are concerned.”
