Pan Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, has expressed full support for the position of Southern Governors’ Forum (SGF) on the need for power to shift to the South come 2023 as reiterated by the Forum’s chairman, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu last Tuesday, February 8, 2022.
The Ondo State governor had made the call while hosting members of the Power Shift Movement who visited him in his office in Akure, the state capital, recalling that the governors on the SGF had made that power shift declaration “in about two or three meetings,” even as he warned that any political party that fielded a northerner as its presidential candidate for the 2023 poll would fail.
The Movement was led to the governor by its leader, Dr Pogu Bitrus and co-chair, General Collins Ihekire (rtd).
Afenifere’s expression of support was contained in a statement issued on Thursday by its spokesperson, Comrade Jare Ajayi, following the criticism of Akeredolu by Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG).
Spokespersons of ACF and CNG, Mr Emmanuel Yawe and Mr Abul-Azeez Suleiman respectively had descended heavily on the governor in their separate statements on Wednesday, with Arewa Consultative Forum describing Akeredolu’s assertion as amounting to a threat and, therefore, unacceptable to the Forum, while the Coalition of Northern Group even insinuated alleged hatred for the North.
Afenifere, however, dismissed ACF and CNG’s vilifications, saying that Governor Akeredolu’s position was in line with that of the ethnic nationalities, particularly in the four zones in the country, namely South-West, Middle-Belt, South-East and the South-South as represented by their respective organisations.
ALSO READ FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
- Suspense As APC, PDP Governors Meet In Lagos
- I Had Sex With Sofiat Before We Cut Off Her Head, Removed Flesh From Her Thigh For Money Ritual —Lover Boy
According to the pan- Yoruba socio-political group, the organisations are Afenifere, Middle Belt Forum, Ohaneze NdIgbo and Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) who, it said collectively formed the South and Middle- Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF), adding that all the groups were all represented at the meeting with Governor Akeredolu.
“They were there along with Comrade Kennedy Iyere, co-ordinator of the Power Shift Movement and the 40 Million Ballot – an important component of the Power Shift Movement,” Afenifere recalled.
“Governor Akeredolu is very much in line with the position of the SMBLF as further reiterated at its recent meeting in Abuja where all political parties in the country were urged to field candidates of southern extraction for the purpose of 2023 presidential election.
“Governor Akeredolu spoke our minds when he said that ‘only a party that is determined to lose will field a northern candidate,” it said.
“This position was very much in line with the resolution of the SMBLF as reiterated at its last meeting held in the house of its National Leader, Pa Edwin Clark,” it added.
Afenifere, therefore, advised both the ACF and CNG to purge themselves of the notion that some people, particularly the South, hated the North, saying that Nigeria belonged to all and that SMBLF was on the path that foster unity, fairness and harmonious relationship in the country.
“Nigeria belongs to all of us. The path we are treading is the one that will foster unity, fairness and harmonious relationship. As succinctly put by Governor Akeredolu, what we, along with the southern governors, stand for ‘is fair and equitable power rotation.
“The only fair thing is that after eight years in the North, presidency should come to the South,” Afenifere posited.
Afenifere, while urging ACF and CNG to prevail on those within their midst whose utterances and actions were threatening the unity of the country, reflected on the case of the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Babazango, who allegedly threatened violent attack against Mr Vincent Umeh, who is from South-East for buying property near his house in Adamawa State.
The group said it was a matter of great concern that a public officer in the rank of a DCP, who is living in Lagos, South-West, could be threatening violence against a fellow Nigerian for buying a property near his own simply because he is from the southern part of the country.
“If every other person insisted on having only a fellow tribesman or woman as his/her neighbour, how are we going to have the much desired unity in the country?” Afenifere queried.
It would be recalled that a viral video shows Babazango, who is currently attached to the Lagos State Police Command, as reportedly infuriated on learning that an Igboman is his new neighbour having bought a property near his own.
The property is located at 33, Mohammed Mustapha Way, Opposite Ford Oil, Yola, in Adamawa. The incident has also been widely reported particularly by online media.
Marburg Virus: What You Need To Know About Disease Recently Detected In West Africa
2023: Afenifere throws support for Akeredolu on power shift to South
FACT CHECK: US Did Not Give Nigeria 48 Hours Ultimatum To Detain Abba Kyari
2023: Afenifere throws support for Akeredolu on power shift to South
and then