Chief Ayo Adebanjo, a leader of pan-Yoruba group Afenifere, has reiterated his stance that only true federalism can address deep injustices in Nigeria’s current political set-up.
He said that the process, however, must start with the enactment of a new constitution to replace the present “distorted” one crafted by the military.
The elder statesman made this known in an interview on the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (BCOS) TV.
“The beginning of our problem in this country was the military coup of 1966. The people who want to do mischief, particularly our brothers from the North, are cheating us under the present structure imposed on us by the military in 1966.
“As long as that Constitution exists, those of us in the South who took part in the founding of this nation under our constitutional democracy will not accept,” he stated.
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Giving an example of this alleged “cheating”, the 91-year-old said: “This Constitution created local governments which they use to distribute resources. But the North is in a position of strength.”
Adebanjo added, “This is a country where a section is imposing its will on the rest. They are using false population to get a majority in the parliament.
“The return to the genuine federal structure is imperative to free the rest of the country from servitude”.