The Chairman, South West Governors Forum, Rotimi Akeredolu, has faulted pan-Yoruba sociopolitical group, Afenifere for endorsing presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi for the 2023 presidential election.
Akeredolu, who is the Governor of Ondo State, said that the group’s endorsement should not be mistaken for the stance of the Yoruba people.
The chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) said this on a Twitter space on Monday titled, “Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Business of Nation Building”.
“Afenifere doesn’t speak for the Yoruba people on the endorsement of the Labour Party Presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
“Afenifere is divided in respect of the purported endorsement and the group’s views do not represent the stance of the Yoruba people,” Akeredolu.
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The lawyer-turned-politician hailed Tinubu for staying true to his progressive ideology despite the prevalence of “political prostitution” in the Nigerian polity.
According to him, Tinubu has “deep knowledge” of the challenges confronting Nigeria and was part of the struggle to enthrone democratic governance during the military era.
“Tinubu’s contributions in the NADECO struggle can not be denied. As you know, when the 1993 presidential election was held, MKO Abiola was deemed to have won that election. But the military junta cancelled the election and set up an interim government.
“Asiwaju Tinubu and a few others felt they weren’t going to take it. They formed the NADECO and fought the military. They stood on June 12. Then the whole country conceded that the next President must be from the Southwest.
“That is why in 1999, only former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Chief Olu Falae ran for the election.
“You can not deny Asiwaju his role. He ran away from the county and set up the Radio-Kudirat. Those were the struggles we had before the fourth republic came up.
“Asiwaju has shown integrity. Asiwaju’s form of politics has taught us that political prostitution is unnecessary,” Tinubu said.