Afenifere denies endorsing Buhari’s re-election

THE pan-Yoruba sociopolitical group, Afenifere, on Wednesday, denied endorsing the re-election bid of President Muhammadu Buhari in the forthcoming election.

This was contained in a statement issued and signed by the national publicity secretary of the group, Mr Yinka Odumakin, who described the endorsement as the wishful thinking of what he termed “a fake group doing the bidding of its paymaster.”

According to him, the endorsement of the group was an indication of the desperation of some people to give legitimacy to the candidacy of President Buhari in the South-West.

Odumakin said the Reuben Fasoranti-led group would have kept silence on the endorsement, “but for the sake of the unwary who may have been confused by the nefarious action of these impostors.”

Said Odumakin: “We say without equivocation that except Senator Ayo Fasanmi who had a past connection with Afenifere till 2003 and Senator Olabiyi Durojaye, who is presently an employee of Buhari, all the others at the Ibadan summit, including Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, have never been known in Afenifere.”

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It also chided those in Ibadan summit for holding such endorsement party the day the legacy of the sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Nigerian Tribune, was being relaunched.

Afenifere also chided the national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Bola Tinubu, for backing the “fake group” against the mainstream group.

It, however, distanced itself from the endorsement, saying “Afenifere as the mainstream Yoruba reject Buhari,” adding that “life has become unbearable for Yoruba and all Nigerians under Buhari and his second term (God forbid) will be hell on earth  for our people.”

It restated commitment to the restructuring of Nigeria, adding that it would soon name the candidate it believed could give the people a working Nigeria.