Tinubu vs Obi: Afenifere drops Adebanjo as acting leader

The presidential ambitions of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Mr Peter Obi have ruptured the peace in the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere.

The leaders of the Yoruba group have been divided over the endorsement of the presidential flag-bearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Tinubu, and the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Obi.

The leader of Afenifere, Pa Reuben Fasoranti, has declared that he remains the leader of the group and not Ayo Adebanjo.

While the Afenifere under Adebanjo endorsed Obi, Fasoranti and other leaders have endorsed Tinubu.

Adebanjo has now been removed as acting leader.

Fasoranti, who handed over to Adebanjo as acting leader in March 2021, declared that he remains the leader of Afenifere, saying Adebanjo would no longer host meetings of the group.

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According to him, the meeting of the Yoruba group would now be held at his residence in Akure, the Ondo State capital, noting that the leaders would no longer converge at Isoya Ogbo, the Ijebu home of Adebanjo.

Afenifere has a longstanding tradition of holding leadership meetings at the country home of its leaders.

Fasoranti, on Wednesday, said he did not step down as the leader of Afenifere.

“It was a misunderstanding and misinterpretation from some people who thought I was going senile and couldn’t comprehend. When I heard that, I reacted and the person who said that regretted saying so.

“I didn’t resign or retire from leadership,” he stressed.

Fasoranti, who further explained the group’s choice of Tinubu, said: “As you can see, the trend, the approval, and the acceptability. You could see what happened when Tinubu came to meet me in Akure. The media carried the whole thing.

“Adebanjo does not have the capacity to warn me not to welcome Tinubu. Can he do that successfully?

“What happened was that Adebanjo took a stand and I took a stand. I didn’t call him and he didn’t call me. We never spoke about the visit.

“As you saw yesterday, it goes without saying that Jagaban was accepted. Obi has no stand in our mind at all,” he stated.

Reacting to the development, Adebanjo, who laughed at Fasoranti’s statement, said he is the leader of the group, adding that Afenifere cannot hold any meeting in Akure.

“No problem. Let them hold the meetings in Akure and see the number of people that will attend. I am the leader of Afenifere. They are just trying to cause confusion and I won’t help them to do that,” he stated.

The Star