All Progressives Congress (APC) in the South West zone has described the recent post-national conference summit where some Yoruba leaders endorsed President Goodluck Jonathan’s second term ambition as an assemblage of strange bedfellows who lacked the political aura to sell the candidacy of the President to reasonable people in the zone.

South-West APC Director of Media and Publicity, Mr. Ayo Afolabi, said the self-acclaimed Yoruba leaders were in the minority and that was why, despite purporting to be acting in Yoruba interest, they held a conference that was not opened to the public.

It said the fact that it was those caliber of people that were promoting the Jonathan candidacy in South-West had shown “how unpopular the President is in the region.”

According to the party, “It is insulting and delusional for those championing Jonathan’s cause in the South-West to think they can decide for Yoruba people behind closed doors. The party said that Tony Uranta and Peter Obi attending a “Yoruba summit” in supervisory role from the presidency is another addition on the list of insults to the pedigree of Yoruba nation from Jonathan’s administration and why he will be rejected at the polls on March 28.”

The party maintained that “Yoruba people cannot be fooled knowing that some of those who dubbed President Jonathan a bribe giver when an allegation of $50,000 ‘bribe’ was made by the Save Nigeria Group are the ones now championing Jonathan’s candidacy.

“Jonathan candidacy is unsellable because when our members joined all Nigerians to protest and forced the pronouncement of Dr. Jonathan as the Acting President in 2010, we were not just fighting against the ‘cabal,’ we were sending a strong message that we are tired of the imperial and high-handed governance culture of the PDP-led federal government.”

It recalled that Nigerians risked their lives in protest for him and many foremost citizens, like Nobel Laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka, risked their reputations to back him for a change that the country truly deserved.

On assumption of office, the party continued, the president allegedly “burnt the bridge that aided his feet to power by assembling another cabal that had since ruled Nigeria like a jungle, violated constitutional provisions, took corruption to an obscene level and promoted ethno-religious divide.
“South west people will speak with their votes on March 28, only the election must not be like that of Ekiti State where state agents were used to rig election. Like they did in the State of Osun gubernatorial election, the South-west people, and by extension, all Nigerians, will resist all intimidations and attempt to steal their votes. As it was in 2010, when Nigerians were united across ethnic and religious divides.’’

Source: VANGUARD