Afenifere, 2023 Election and Unabated War

Fidelis David reports that the crisis rocking the pan-Yoruba organisation, Afenifere, persists as the group led by Ayo Adebanjo and Pa Reuben Fasoranti is at loggerheads over the outcome of the 2023 presidential poll.

Naturally, the thought of an average Nigerian was that after Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) was declared the winner of the February 25, 2023 election by INEC, the wrangling between the leaders of the apex Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, would naturally die, but the reverse appears to be the case.

Recall that October 2023 closed in a seemingly symbolic and emotive moment for the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential candidate, Asiwaju  Tinubu, when he took a benedictory pilgrimage to Akure, the capital city of Ondo State to receive the all-clear from Pa Rueben Fasoranti—an endorsement that  generated mixed furore.

Fasoranti, who was made the leader of Afenifere in November 2008 and had stepped down for Adebanjo in 2021, while performing the greybeard invocation, had his two palms firmly placed on Tinubu’s clean shaven head and wished the APC national leader a smooth glide in the race for Aso Rock, even as Tinubu put forward his 80-page manifesto before the nonagenarian with other prominent Yoruba leaders present.

The meeting came after Chief Ayo Adebanjo, the current leader of the group had earlier endorsed Peter Obi of the Labour Party as the preferred candidate of Afenifere for the 2023 presidential election.

Meanwhile, the current exchanges followed a statement issued penultimate Tuesday after its monthly general meeting presided over by Mr Adebanjo in Isanya Ogbo in Ogun State, in which Afenifere formally rejected the results of the presidential election.

Specifically, Afenifere, under its acting leader, Ayo Adebanjo, rejected the declaration, claiming that Peter Obi of the Labour Party, who came third, actually won the election.

A communique issued after the meeting by the Secretary General of the group and Southwest Coordinator of LP Presidential Campaign Council,  Sola Ebiseni, reiterated its  position that the February 25 Presidential election was characterised by all forms of primitive manipulations and noncompliance with the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Electoral Act 2022 and the guidelines and regulations.

The communique reads: “The results of the lawful votes at the Presidential election available to the Afenifere through credible sources confirm that Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, won the said election and we, thus, support his decision challenging the contrary declaration by the INEC. Re-assert that for equity, fairness, national cohesion and peaceful corporate existence, the next President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria shall be person of its southern part and specifically the South-East.

“Condemn in the strongest terms, the campaigns of calumny and  acts of ethnic violence deployed by some politicians and their hired criminal gangs in several parts of the federation during the gubernatorial election particularly Lagos State where the election was made to appear like an inter-ethnic war between the Yoruba and Igbo  which greatly led to voters’ suppression and other forms of deliberate disenfranchisement through brigandage”.

The group which believed that for the interest of equity, unity and fairness, it is the turn of the South East to produce the next President of Nigeria, also expressed belief in the judiciary as an integral part of the democratic process and expect that it proves itself in the election litigations pending before it without fear or favour and in accordance with the judicial oaths of its members and in covenant with Nigerians.

Afenifere led by Adebanjo had endorsed Mr Obi for the election, saying it is the turn of the South East (Igbo people)  to produce the president.

However, Afenifere led by Fasoranti dismissed claims of rubbishing Bola Tinubu’s election, maintaining that the group recognised the former Lagos State governor as the president-elect.

Fasoranti, the frontline educator and Second Republic Commissioner for Finance in Ondo State,  while reacting through a statement titled “Afenifere is a Law-abiding Organization”, explained that Adebanjo’s statement was alien to  Afenifere which does not conduct itself as an agent of the state let alone as an electoral umpire.

“Presently, the whole world knows that Nigeria has a President-elect in person of Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, a true Yoruba son and nationalist. We in Afenifere not only acknowledge this, we take delight in his in-coming Presidency and are confident that he will, by the grace of God, return Nigeria to the glorious position that all of us will be proud. Which was why I also congratulated in a personal letter I sent to him.

“The whole world is aware that I personally blessed and anointed Ahmed Bola Tinubu on October 30, 2022 in the presence of notable people from all parts of Yorubaland right here in my place in Akure. How can we then turn round and condemn the election of such a person? We never did. I also read in the said Communique, the purported removal and suspension of the National Publicity Secretary and the National Organising Secretary of the organization in persons of Comrade Jare Ajayi and Abagun Kole Omololu.

“At no time was any of these officials reported to me as doing anything against what Afenifere stands for or doing anything against the interests of our race, the Yoruba. Thus, at no time was I informed that they were queried, warned or sanctioned for conducting themselves in a manner contrary to what Afenifere or the Yorubas stand for”.

According to Fasoranti, “being an organization that believes in justice and fairness, being an organization that always maintains that those at the helms of affairs should follow the rule of law, Afenifere, our organization, cannot just wake up and pronounce some officials removed and suspended without telling them what their offences are and without giving them the opportunities to defend themselves.

“Such a step is not only against natural justice; it is also in clear defiance of the law of the land. Afenifere believes in the rule of law and in the fundamental rights of all, including right to fair hearing. For these and other reasons, the purported removal and suspension are null and void. The two officials should be commended rather than condemned for the selfless services they are rendering to Afenifere, to the Yoruba race and to Nigeria and humanity. They are hereby so commended”, he added.

Afterwards, the Ondo State chapter of the group held a meeting  in Akure, the state capital, where the actions of the Adebanjo led-meeting were also condemned. The resolution of the meeting were contained in a communique signed by Chief Korede Duyile and Mr Bakkita Bello, the state chairman and secretary, respectively.

The communique read in part, “The Ondo State Afenifere Leaders see the suspension of the two national officers, as not only unfair but highly violative of the Afenifere principles and traditions which had prevailed over 70 years.

“At no point was Kole Omololu, who is from Ondo State, reported to the state branch for any misconduct, lapses or abuse of office, on the need for the branch to reprimand him, neither is the branch aware of his being invited to any meetings or appearance before a disciplinary committee. From the foregoing, the purported suspension of our son, Kole Omololu, is hereby rejected and we also advise that the national officers be reinstated.”

Be that as it may, one can convincingly say Afenifere, is at its defining moment and its members must avoid being scattered by partisan politics of widely differing political ideology and see its consistent intervention and speaking loudly on issues affecting the region as portraying it as a major voice of the region.

Afenifere must also align with the European Union, African Union, Commonwealth, ECOWAS Missions to the 2023 Nigeria’s Election admonition that any of the presidential candidates or political party that is not satisfied with the electoral process should seek legal redress, which they’ve done.