Clear facts have emerged to the effect that the meeting of Yoruba leaders that held last Sunday in Akure was under the auspices of Conscience of Yoruba Nation and not Afenifere as widely publicised.
The reported endorsement of the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, by the meeting had been misconstrued and taken as endorsement by Afenifere.
The purported endorsement had, as intended, split Afenifere down the line, creating the picture of dissonance and irreconcilable differences in political preferences in the 2023 presidential election.
Whereas, the Conscience of Yoruba Nation’s forum deployed the influence of a former leader of Afenifere, Pa Reuben Fasoranti in undercutting the open position of the acting leader of the influential Yoruba socio-cultural group, Pa Ayo Adebanjo , Adebanjo had insisted on the group’s support for Mr Peter Obi of the Labour Party.
The argument by Adebanjo has been predicated on the imperativeness of equity.
He had said that it was the turn of the Southeast to produce the President of Nigeria.
Worried by Adebanjo’s position, some leaders in Yoruba land had moved to discount his leadership and position by seeking an audience with Pa Fasoranti who had stepped aside as Afenifere leader many months ago.
Even when the promoters of the Akure meeting knew that it was not convened by Afenifere, they did not bother to offer clarifications just because it fit into their stratagem.
But a copy of the invitation letter to the Sunday, October 30, 2022 meeting, now in circulation has put the lie to the deliberate narrative that it was a meeting by the Afenifere group.
The meeting was actually convened by Conscience of Yoruba Nation and the invitation was signed by the DG of the group, Dr Kole Omololu and Mr Dare Babarinsa.
The venue was the country home of Pa Fasoranti in Akure and the items on the agenda of the meeting were to discuss the historic 2023 general elections and guide the Yoruba people of Nigeria to take a definite and wise decision in the overall interest of posterity, and also, an interaction with one of the leading candidates, His Excellency, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The outcome of the meeting has since caused furore in the camp of the Afenifere, raising question about who is in the saddle as the group’s leader between Fasoranti and Adebanjo.
Although Fasoranti had reportedly distanced himself from reports suggesting the removal of Adebanjo as acting leader of Afenifere, the temporary peace in the group is tantamount to that of the graveyard.
The next few weeks will determine the final position the Afenifere group will push through at the crucial 2023 presidential election.
See below the invitation letter to the Akure meeting:
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