Pa Ayo Adebanjo, leader of Pan-Yoruba sociopolitical group, has said Nigeria will be in trouble if any candidate other than Peter Obi, presidential Candidate of the Labour Party, is elected president in 2023.
This as the elder statesman hailed Obi’s endorsement by former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
He however said he was not surprised by Obasanjo’s action, saying the former President has always been in support of power shift to the South-East in the interest of equity, fairness and justice as well as keeping the country together.
Speaking with Daily Trust, Adebanjo said Nigeria would be in trouble if the people failed to vote for Obi.
He stated that the decision of Afenifere to support Obi was ideological and principled, saying other regions except the South-East had enjoyed the privilege of being in the saddle.
He stated that there was no justification for the APC Presidential Candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to contest when Obasanjo, from the South-West was President for eight years.
He said the same thing applies to the PDP candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, noting it was wrong for another Northerner to take over when a Northerner is exiting.
He said, “How are you going to justify Tinubu when Obasanjo had spent eight years? Or how do you justify Atiku when another Northerner is leaving the place? That’s the crux of the matter. The South-West has done, South-South has done, is South-East not part of Nigeria?
Asked if he and Obasanjo would be able to convince voters in the South-West to vote for Obi, he said those who believe in principle would support their position, adding, “Don’t bring in ethnicity. I said it in my statement. If it is about ethnicity, I should support Tinubu. I made him the governor but I am not supporting him as President. Yoruba people don’t cheat others.
“We cannot talk of a united Nigeria when the South-East has not had it. I am not like Atiku who said he wants to keep Nigeria. How can you do that when you are denying a part of Nigeria its right?”
Ahead of the election, Adebanjo urged Nigerians to vote the right people in the right places, saying, “If they vote outside Obi, Nigeria will be in trouble. Anything outside Obi, we are in trouble.”