Pa Ayo Adebanjo, the leader of Afenifere, the apex Yoruba sociopolitical group, has said President Muhammadu Buhari is not interested in handing over power to the Southwest in 2023.
Adebanjo, 94, who spoke at the Greater Nigeria Conference, an event organised by Nzuko Umunna, an Igbo think tank group, tagged, “Together we can,” in Abuja on Monday, noted that the president was only trying to divide the Southwest with the intention of retaining power in the north.
The elder statesman noted that if Buhari and the north were interested in power shift, they would not be asking many people for the region to contest for president.
According to him, President Buhari is deciding Bola Tinubu, former governor of Lagos State and presidential hopeful, as well as Professor Yemi Osinbajo, the vice president.
He said, “I only like to point to the fact that they are just deceiving you. All that you are hearing that they (the North) are supporting the Southwest is an element of deceit to deprive you to be able to rule you. They don’t like anybody!
“I told Bola Tinubu himself, not in the paper, face-to-face. You believe this man (Buhari) will make you President? He said ‘yes’. I said he wanted to make you President, he asked (Yemi) Osinbajo to contest? He asked (Kayode) Fayemi to contest, he asked Ibikunle (Amosun to contest? All in the West, why? He wanted to divide the West first.” Adebanjo said.
The elder statesman pointed out that that the truth was that the north did not want to leave power in 2023, while also attacking for president, Goodluck Jonathan for mulling presidential ambition.
“The unfortunate thing is that President Goodluck Jonathan allowed himself to be disgraced by mentioning the fact that, ‘I’m considering whether to be President’; for what? Who are you consulting?” he wondered.
Adebanjo who backed power shift to the Southeast, wondered why political leaders from the north were now propounding a lot of theories when they realized it was the turn of the zone to produce the President in 2023.
“Now that it is the turn of the Southeast, they are propounding a new theory, it must be based on merit and all that. If it is the question of merit, who in the North? All of them…if it has been based on merit till today, till kingdom comes, the East alone will produce the President”, he said.
The Afenifere leader said that all the talks that the aspirants from the South must go and lobby, campaign and sell themselves was all rigmarole, saying the North knows the truth.
“Although I don’t like all the people that came out from the East. But for the fact that they are saying you have no people, I’m happy you demonstrate that (you have people). But go and unite. A house divided against itself will not stand,” Adebanjo advised.
According to him, the decision of presidential aspirants including the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi and the Governor of Rivers state, Nyesom Wike who are from the South South to contest would only give the North undue advantage over the South.