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Tag: Pa Ayo Adebanjo

  • There’s no president-elect, INEC decision won’t stand – Pa Adebanjo

    There’s no president-elect, INEC decision won’t stand – Pa Adebanjo

    Afenifere leader, Pa Ayo Adebanjo, has claimed that there is no President-elect in Nigeria, insisting that the decision by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to declare the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Ahmed Tinubu winner of the 2023 presidential election, will not stand.

    Pa Adebanjo is one of the elder statesmen who publicly declared support for the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, Peter Obi, on the ground that the people of the South East should be allowed to have a shot at the presidency for equity and justice to reign supreme.

    The INEC declared Bola Tinubu winner of the February 25th, 2023 presidential election amidst an alleged wide range of irregularities across the country majorly due to the inability of the electoral umpire to keep its promise of deploying technology in the election.

    While the BVAS failed in many states, some Governors were said to have hijacked the election and suppressed the will of the people, especially in Rivers State and Lagos State,

    Appearing on Arise Television on Friday, Adebanjo said INEC’s decision on Saturday’s polls, as regarding the presidential election result, will not stand.

    “I listened to the Chairman of INEC when Dino Melaye told him to suspend, not cancel the collation, citing a lot of irregularities so that he can correct them. He said ‘no I promise, if you let me complete this exercise, I’ll review it.

    “As for the Chairman, those of us who know him know that he has not been the man that he should be. He’s a great disappointment. This is not the first time he would be disappointing Lagos people. In 2019, he deceived us and now he’s done it again thinking that Nigerian people are fools.

    “And I said it before in this election nobody can Babangida us. It was a daylight robbery. The whole country supported you to amend the electoral law to ensure it is is transmitted by electoral law and at the time of the election you came back to fight us. What a shame. I’m only sorry for the country.

    “I’m only sorry for the youths. But I warned you before, this government is a disaster… It’s a disaster that God will help us get rid of. There’s no President-Elect at all. It’s just a sham that will be removed in due course. We’re all living witnesses to it. Why won’t we follow the law provided for the election?”

  • Why Peter Obi Must Be Nigerians President – Pa Ayo Adebanjo

    Why Peter Obi Must Be Nigerians President – Pa Ayo Adebanjo

    Elder statesman and leader of Afenifere, the apex Yoruba socio-political organisation, Pa Ayo Adebanjo, affirmed that the passion Nigerians have for Peter Obi of Labour Party is incomparable to that of other candidates.

    Adebanjo made the claim while fielding questions on Arise Television’s State of the Nation news programme on Thursday.

    He reiterated that it is the turn of the South East to produce the president, saying he was the first person to cry out about that.

    Adebanjo said, “Well, I believe those who have love in following the trajectory of the Nigerian election must know why we are supporting Peter Obi. Of course, you must remember I was the first person to cry out that it was the turn of the South East. The parties had not done their primaries at that time, but I was just thinking about the constitutionality, logicality and equity of the situation of Nigerian politics from the time of independence.

    “I think all passion for Obi cannot be compared with others. It is historical, philosophical, logical and constitutional, and even a question of inclusiveness if you are sincere about keeping Nigeria together.”

  • North can’t decide who will be President – Adebanjo

    North can’t decide who will be President – Adebanjo

    The leader of the Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, has said the North cannot dictate to the rest of the country who becomes the president.

    Adebanjo spoke on Monday during a public lecture themed, ‘Nationalism and nation-building in Nigerian history,’ held at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs on Victoria Island, Lagos.

    He said, “It was said that the South-East must come to negotiate with the North because politics is a game of numbers. My case is – and I told people yesterday – the case for the East is not to beg for a favour; it is their right. Yet, each time I hear that they should go around because the North has the population, what fraudulent population? You can’t sell that to me.

    “They tell us to work together but unfortunately because they now have produced a president at the helm of affairs, they say ‘no one can become president except you come to the North and unfortunately, some southerners have been brainwashed that they can’t do anything except they bow to the North. I don’t believe it.

    “What right has the North to dictate who will become our president? We were brought together not by peace, not by agreement, they forced us together and we agreed, so to continue to live together in peace must be by agreeable terms. The East has the right not because he is Igbo but because it is in Nigeria. The principle of Afenifere is on ideological basis and principle of rightness, inclusiveness and not any sentiment.”

    The President of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Prof. George Obiozor, in his opening remark, explained that no generation of Nigerian leaders since independence had been able to create an atmosphere of credibility to ensure Nigeria’s claim to a political future as one nation.

    He said, “Recently, some Nigerian political leaders have said that Nigerian unity is non-negotiable. This is an irony because these leaders seem to have forgotten Nigerian history or have failed to learn the lessons of history in general.

    “Nigerian unity is definitely negotiable and must be re-negotiated for it to stand or survive the test of time. The reality over the years remains that in spite of the best efforts of all our leaders past or present, Nigerian unity is not guaranteed.

    “It is simply, at best, an aspiration and not yet an achievement. Consequently, the statement that Nigerian unity is ‘non-negotiable’ is simply a historical fallacy.”

    On his part, the National Director of Publicity of the Northern Elders Forum, Dr Hakeem Ahmed, said, “Some Nigerian political leaders have said Nigeria’s unity is non-negotiable. I don’t know who these people are, but I can tell you they are not of the North and they are not related to the NEF.

    “Nigeria’s unity is negotiable. You either negotiate it because nations are very fragile and very delicate and you have to nurture them and pay attention to their need or they break and we are at that breaking point.”

    The guest lecturer, Prof. Jide Osuntokun, lamented that since 1966, Nigeria had struggled to find a method to balance the regional desire for autonomy under a national structure.

  • 2023: Adebanjo Rubbishes Fasoranti’s Endorsement of Tinubu, Says Afenifere Still Stand with Obi

    2023: Adebanjo Rubbishes Fasoranti’s Endorsement of Tinubu, Says Afenifere Still Stand with Obi

    The leader of the Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, Chief Ayo Adebanjo has rubbished the endorsement of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate,Bola Tinubu by Pa Reuben Fasoranti, in Akure, Ondo State on Sunday.

    Adebanjo said the endorsement by Fasoranti and some other Afenifere leaders does not hold water as they can’t speak on behalf of the group.

    Chief Adebanjo insisted that he is the current leader of the Afenifere and the earlier-announced decision not to support Tinubu’s presidential ambition is still in place because in the spirit of fairness and justice, it is not the turn of the southwest to produce the next Nigerian President.

    He argued that the Labour Party candidate, Peter Obi remains the choice of the pan-Yoruba group for the 2023 presidency.

    Speaking further, Adebanjo revealed that Pa Fasoranti called him on Saturday over the planned meeting with Tinubu and he warned him not to allow himself to be used to cause any confusion.

    While further warning them not to cause division within Afenefere, Adebanjo claimed that those who were at the meeting with Tinubu are not Afenifere leaders but merely APC chieftains from the southwest.

    He said “The Yoruba People know their leader. I’ve spoken, the National Secretary has spoken. This is no the time to engage in polemics. The way forward is my position.

    “What happened was a diversion. They want us to be engaged in arguments. Is that the issue now?

    “Can he (Tinubu) deny it that the South-West has not had its turn? Can he deny it South-South has not had its turn? They should answer that. As far as I am concerned, the meeting does not concern us as Afenifere.

    “Afenifere is not divided. That was why I said I don’t want to engage in polemics. They want to throw a wedge between me and Pa Reuben Fasoranti and I won’t allow it. The man phoned me yesterday and I warned him, don’t get yourself involved.”

  • We know Peter Obi very well, He will not Disappoint – Adebanjo

    We know Peter Obi very well, He will not Disappoint – Adebanjo

    Leader of Afenifere, Ayo Adebanjo, has explained why the pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation is supporting Peter Obi ahead of Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

    In a tweet, Adebanjo said Tinubu will only continue President Muhammadu Buhari’s incompetent leadership.

    He urged Nigerians to put aside tribal differences and vote for the right leadership.

    “Ahmed Tinubu will only give continuity to Buhari’s incompetence,” Adebanjo said.

    “We know Peter Obi very well, that is why we endorse him. He will not disappoint Nigerians, let us out tribal difference apart and vote right leaders.”