The two sides of the Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, yesterday differed over the response of President Bola Tinubu to the demand by The Patriots for a new Constitution that must be subjected to a referendum.

The Ayo Adebanjo side, which is also part of The Patriots, said it was alarmed by Tinubu’s response to the group’s demand in which the former governor of Lagos State said he wanted to focus on his economic reforms and the attendant economic hardship and lowering of living standard.

But in contrast, the Reuben Fasoranti’s faction said the President’s reaction was reassuring and without any ambiguity. However, both parties agreed to holistic reforms of Nigeria’s governing system.

A statement, signed on behalf of Adebanjo, stated: “What is required is a holistic approach that tackles from the roots, simultaneously. Not just economic and political reforms and palliatives, but also complete economic and political restructuring.”

But National Publicity Secretary of Afenifere in Fasoranti’s side, Jare Ajayi, said that the response of Tinubu on the issue was reassuring. Ajayi, therefore, urged the government not to tarry any longer in setting the machinery in motion for the realisation of a new Constitution.

He also pleaded with some northerners who were against the demand for a new Constitution that would be subjected to a referendum to understand that nothing is wrong with the current constitution but the operators are wrong.

He said: “The 1999 Constitution actually gave the operators the latitude to do whatever they want while in political office. With the current constitution, Nigeria can’t move anywhere.”

A delegate to the 2014 National Conference, Tony Nyiam, however, disagreed with the argument that the 1999 Constitution is not the problem but the operators.