Chief Ayo Adebanjo, leader of the Pan-Yoruba sociopolitical group Afenifere, has praised former President Olusegun Obasanjo for endorsing Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi.
WITHIN NIGERIA previously reported that Obasanjo officially endorsed Obi as his preferred presidential candidate on Sunday.
In response to the endorsement, Adebanjo stated that he was not surprised that Obasanjo supported the former Governor of Anambra State’s presidential ambitions.
According to the elder statesman, Obasanjo has always supported the power shift to the South-East.
In an interview with Daily Trust, Adebanjo, however, stated that if the people did not vote for Obi, Nigeria would be in trouble.
He went on to say that Afenifere’s decision to support Obi is ideological and principled.
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 the 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?
Adebanjo while calling on Nigerians to vote for the right people in 2023 said, “If they vote outside Obi, Nigeria will be in trouble. Anything outside Obi, we are in trouble.”