According to Punch newspaper, Afenifere chieftain and elder statesman, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, has warned the people of the South-West against casting their votes in the coming elections for candidates that will endanger the political and economic interest of the region.
Adebanjo who spoke at a pro-national conference summit held in Akure, Ondo State, said the South-West region was at the forefront of the campaign for a restructured Nigeria which was captured in the recommendations of the last National Conference.
He said only a presidential candidate committed to implementing the recommendations of the confab report should be supported and voted for in the coming general elections.
“Some people are trying to sell the Yoruba nation and scuttle all what we have fought for over the years. If we fail to achieve this, I don’t know how Papa Obafemi Awolowo will be feeling in his grave,” Adebanjo said.
The summit, which was convened by the Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Mimiko, to review recommendations of the National Conference, 2014, in view of the coming elections.
Adebanjo, who chaired the summit, tagged National Conference, 2015 Elections and the Yoruba Nation, said that the support expressed by Afenifere for Jonathan was not partisan, but based on the interest of the people of the South-West who had since the time of Awolowo, campaigned for the restructuring of the country.
He said the vision of a restructured Nigeria was being realised with the convening of the last National Conference and would become fruitful if the government that convened it was allowed to continue in office beyond May 29, 2015.
According to him, some people who are not fully aware of the consequences of the death of the confab report are clamouring for change, saying once General Muhammadu Buhari becomes President, the Yoruba people should prepare for another era of setbacks and sufferings.
“We are supporting Jonathan because of consistency. Consistency of the Yoruba people to have this country restructured so that it can develop,” he said. (Credits: The Punch)
