The Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere has said that the emergence of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as the flag bearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is delightful in view if the organisations demand that political parties should field candidates from the Southern part of the country for the 2023 presidential election.
Afenifere, however, in a press statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Jare Ajayi insisted on the restructuring of the country and the establishment of a State police.
The statement reads in part, “The choice of a Southerner as presidential candidate by one of the leading political parties in the country is delightful.
“It is a known fact that the Southern and Middle Belt Leadership Forum, of which Afenifere is a key member, has been in the forefront of those advocating that power must shift to the southern part of Nigeria come 2023.
“For power to move to the South, there must be Southern candidate or candidates, which was why we were strident in our calls on the political parties to field Southern candidates in the forthcoming Presidential election. Electing former Lagos State Governor, Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu, to fly its flag in the APC has met that minimum condition of fielding a Southern candidate,” the statement noted.
The organisation quickly added that a return to True Federalism through the Restructuring of the country has been an article of faith for Afenifere for a long time.
“It is our hope, indeed our demand, that the next President must get the country Restructured immediately on assumption of office if the present administration under retired General Muhammadu Buhari failed to do so before leaving office.
The statement reads in part, “The choice of a Southerner as presidential candidate by one of the leading political parties in the country is delightful.
“It is a known fact that the Southern and Middle Belt Leadership Forum, of which Afenifere is a key member, has been in the forefront of those advocating that power must shift to the southern part of Nigeria come 2023.
“For power to move to the South, there must be Southern candidate or candidates, which was why we were strident in our calls on the political parties to field Southern candidates in the forthcoming Presidential election. Electing former Lagos State Governor, Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu, to fly its flag in the APC has met that minimum condition of fielding a Southern candidate,” the statement noted.
The organisation quickly added that a return to True Federalism through the Restructuring of the country has been an article of faith for Afenifere for a long time.
“It is our hope, indeed our demand, that the next President must get the country Restructured immediately on assumption of office if the present administration under retired General Muhammadu Buhari failed to do so before leaving office.
“Not only that, the next administration owes us the duty of ensuring that the country is not only safe for everybody, the operating system must be such that no section or group would be in a position to dominate the other.
“The emergence of a person of Southern extraction is highly welcomed. It is our hope that this will translate into power shifting to the South come 2023.”
He went further to say that in the meantime, the suffocating insecurity situation in the country must be tamed immediately by, among other things, allowing for the establishment of a State Police right now. As well as putting a stop to the kid-glove manner with which bandits and terrorists are being treated by the federal government today, the statement added.
