Akintoye accuses Tinubu of planning to destroy Yoruba self-determination group
[FILES] APC presidential Bola Tinubu.<br />Photo/facebook/govkaduna
• Farounbi faults Afenifere’s endorsement of presidential candidates
• PDP mocks Tinubu’s bid to secure a blessing from South-West
The leader of the Yoruba Nation self-determination struggle, Prof. Banji Akintoye, yesterday, said he did not authorise any congress of Ilana Omo Oodua Worldwide, being rumoured to take place today, November 1, 2022, in Ibadan, Oyo State.
In a statement, yesterday, Akintoye distanced himself from a statement issued by one Funmi Soyemi, the outgoing Chairman of Ilana Interim Management Committee of the organisation, which says a World Congress of Ilana Omo Oodua will hold today.
He said those planning the congress were agents working for politicians within the organisation.
Akintoye alleged that the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, is currently recruiting some power-seeking individuals within the self-determination struggle to either discredit him (Akintoye) or destroy the movement completely.
HOWEVER, a former Nigerian Ambassador to the Philippines, Dr. Yemi Farounbi, yesterday, faulted the endorsement of presidential candidates by Afenifere leaders.
Afenifere leaders have endorsed Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) and Bola Tinubu of the APC.
Farounbi, who spoke with The Guardian in Ibadan, said what Afenifere ought to have done is to provide a forum for all the candidates to present their vision and mission.
He said the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and other groups had just created a platform for such an assessment and had not made an endorsement because it was too early.
Meanwhile, a former Chief of Staff to the late Governor Abiola Ajimobi and university lecturer, Prof. Gbade Ojo, yesterday, said the Yoruba were never known to be so dogmatic in following any candidate.
RELATEDLY, the Atiku/Okowa Presidential Campaign Organisation, yesterday, decried an alleged attempt by Tinubu to use the ethnic card to lure reputable South-West leaders to support his presidential ambition.
It said that it was sad that “the APC presidential candidate resorted to playing ethnic card at a session he organised at Pa Reuben Fasoranti’s house in Akure, at the weekend, in a bid to divert attention from his numerous anti-people issues and use the unsuspecting leaders to create an impression of having secured the endorsement of the South-West.”
Spokesperson of the campaign group, Kola Ologbondiyan, in a statement, said: “The people of the South-West are knowledgeable; they are egalitarian; they know what is in their best interest and Asiwaju Tinubu’s life ambition does not represent that.
“Our electoral process is badly scandalised by reports in the public space that the APC has been making huge financial overtures to some leaders to create factions in certain credible Pan-South-West organisations and use such procured factions to pronounce support for the APC presidential candidate.”
“The very thought by the APC presidential campaign to compromise the leaders of the South-West is, to say the least, reprehensible, atrocious, sacrilegious and shows the extent of disrespect, irreverence and disdain the APC has for such revered leaders.”
He added: “The handlers of the APC presidential candidate should know that the South-West, like other sections of the country, is holding Tinubu directly responsible for the woes the nation have been passing through in the last seven and half years of the APC administration; an administration Asiwaju Tinubu confessed to having helped installed.”
Ologbondiyan said Tinubu could not be trusted by the South-West or any part of the country for that matter as his persistent entitlement messaging demonstrates that his presidential ambition is driven by the pursuit of personal aggrandisement and not to serve the people.
