2023 Polls: Atiku's Camp Kicks As Afenifere Endorses Tinubu

Dr Daniel Bwala, the Presidential Spokesman of the Atiku/Okowa Campaign Organisation, has condemned the move by the Pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere endorsing the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressive Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

TORI reported that Afenifere leader, Pa Reuben Fasoranti, and several South West leaders on Sunday endorsed Tinubu.

Tinubu received their endorsement during a meeting he had with the leaders of the organisation at Fasoranti’s residence in Akure, the Ondo State capital.

Some members of the group, including Pa Ayo Adebanjo, and the Secretary-General Chief Sola Ebiseni, were however absent at the meeting.

But reacting to the endorsement, Bwala in a statement said the absence of Adebanjo and others was an indication that the endorsement was faulty.

He also faulted the Afenifere leaders for inviting only Tinubu among all other presidential candidates to an event where they could have hosted frontline candidates and listened to their plans for the country.

“In what seem like the crawling of a rat at night to steal meat from the pot, Tinubu paid a strange visit to Pa Fatoramti; strange because it was not an organized setting of the usual meeting of the highly respected Afenifere; needless to say the leader of the group Pa Adebanjo and the secretary were obviously absent when he went to in a Gestapo manner.

“First off, the Afenifere we know has through their leader made known their position as to who they support and it was certainly not Tinubu.

Secondly, if it were a meeting seeking to know the right person to support or endorse amongst the candidates it ought to have at least invited the leading candidates to hear their take on what plans they have for the country that caters to the interests of Afenifere.”

Bwala also described Tinubu as a “tribal evangelist”. He said the former Lagos State governor’s comment that he “would bring the trophy home” at the meeting was a “clear ethnic insinuations and divisive remarks”.

The statement read, “So to Tinubu, the race to become the president of Nigeria is a trophy to be won and taken to his ethnic enclave. He was not only wrong in his tribal insinuation that not a single Yoruba opposed the ticket, but he also lied because lots of Yorubas took strong objections to the same faith ticket and to his divisive and religious politics.

“To say that his ticket is supported by all Yorubas is, to say the least disingenuous, false, and condemnable.

“Tinubu has made no secret about his tribal championship and utter disregard for other ethnic people in southern Nigeria. This to say the least is sad and terribly troubling and Nigerians should rise and condemn this rhetoric at the polls.”