The Pan Yoruba Socio-Political Group, Afenifere, and some other groups in the country have expressed their support for a coalition of opposition groups in order to save the country from drifting to a one-party state.
However, the groups insisted that only a broad-based grand coalition with respect to the established regional rotational presidency would have any meaningful effect.
The groups also expressed their position after a closed-door conversation on the state of the nation with former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, at his residence in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
The General Secretary of Afenifere, Chief Sola Ebiseni, disclosed that the coalition was a welcome development against the troubling tendency of a one-party state.
He said, “The APC emerged as a coalition which in 2013 aligned itself with the popular sentiment of regional rotation and strategically settled for a President of Northern origin by which Buhari succeeded Jonathan.
“Afenifere and other groups, including the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum and the Southern Governors, were in the forefront insisting uncompromisingly that only a President of Southern origin would succeed Buhari after eight years, as we have it today.
“The fact speaks for itself that there can be no serious proposition today against the fullness of the eight-year tenure of the South. It is not about individual political actors or parties. It is a consensus for regional mutual respect and national political stability.”
Also speaking, a former Political Adviser to Obasanjo, Chief Akin Osuntokun, said they had a deep conversation with Obasanjo on the state of the nation.
Osuntokun said, “We are honoured for that deep conversation with Baba on the state of the nation in spite of his very tight schedule, as you can.
“It was a consultation with the indisputable father of the nation and African and world statesman.
“But you know Baba for his passion for Nigeria, and our position remains that Nigeria belongs to all Nigerians, and leadership at the highest level should reflect our collective aspiration for fairness, inclusiveness, and justice.
“No region holds an exclusive right to power, and the notion of entitlement by any region or ethnic nationality to the leadership of the nation is unhealthy for national stability and its democratic growth.”
Amongst others in the group were Mr. John Ughulu, the Lagos State Coordinator, and the Secretary, Dr. Folaseye Adabayo, of the 2023 Peter Obi Presidential Campaign Council.
