2023: Another Group, Not Afenifere Endorsed Tinubu – Invitation Letter Reveals

Sequel to the misunderstanding between leaders of Yoruba socio-political group Afenifere, Pa Reuben Fasoranti and Pa Ayo Adebanjo, new information has emerged that the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 2023 general election, Bola Tinubu wasn’t endorsed by the group after all.

Naija News gathered that the meeting held in the house of Pa Fasoranti in Akure, the capital of Ondo state to endorse Tinubu last Sunday was not called by Afenifere, but by another pan-Yoruba group, Conscience of Yoruba Nation (COYN), which comprises politicians and prominent Yoruba leaders of repute.

According to a Guardian newspaper report, a copy of the invitation letter, printed on the letterhead of COYN, dated October 24 and entitled ‘Meeting with Yoruba leadership,’ revealed that “We are happy to invite you to a meeting with the leadership of the Yoruba nation. The leader, Chief Reuben Fasonranti, has agreed to host and preside over the meeting, which is called under the auspices of the Conscience of Yoruba Nation Forum.”

In the letter, the Director Generals of COYN, Otunba Kole Omololu and Dare Babarinsa. signed also disclosed that the purpose of the meeting was “to discuss the historic 2023 general elections and guide the Yoruba people of Nigeria to take a definite and wise decision in the overall interest of prosperity and also, an interaction with one of the leading candidates, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”

However, some members of the Yoruba leaders forum have been reported to have condemned the move by COYN saying to convene a meeting of such magnitude in Afenifere’s name, use Fasoranti as a disguise and also putting Afenifere in all the proceedings and communiqué of the meeting, while the conveners are not executive members of the group is unthinkable.

The report revealed further that the Yoruba leaders accused the leadership of COYN of refusing to inform Afenifere and didn’t invite many Yoruba and Afenifere leaders to the meeting.

It also added that “the conveners colluded with Tinubu’s supporters by playing on the old age of Fasoranti for the “pyrrhic endorsement’.”

Some members of the Yoruba leaders forum also blamed both Fasoranti and Adebanjo for being ‘hasty’ in their decision to endorse Tinubu and the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi respectively.

They blamed them for not widely consulting Yoruba groups before concluding their decisions, adding that they expected both leaders to have learnt from how Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) gave all the presidential candidates an opportunity to present what they have without endorsing any of them.

One of the leaders was reported to have stated that “Have they studied the manifesto and agenda submitted to them by Tinubu and were convinced that Yoruba interest will be protected or he was just endorsed because he is a Yoruba man? It is unfortunate that some Yoruba leaders are playing ethnic games and presenting Tinubu as a Yoruba candidate, instead of presenting him as a Nigerian candidate of Yoruba extraction.”

Meanwhile, while some of the Yoruba leaders insisted that Afenifere should have done as Arewa did, others maintained that Pa Fasoranti’s endorsement of Tinubu should be the ultimate regardless of what COYN did to hide under Afenifere.

While they blamed Adebanjo for not consulting Fasoranti and other Yoruba leaders before endorsing Obi they opined that Fasoranti’s endorsement of Tinubu’s presidential bid should stand.

They said Fasoranti remains the leader of the Yoruba group and by the tradition of Afenifere, Adebanjo, as the acting leader, must consult with Fasoranti before taking critical decisions on behalf of Afenifere.

Evidently, Fasoranti had yesterday in a video insisted that he remained the leader of Afenifere and there is no going back on the group’s endorsement of Tinubu. The Yoruba leader, in a viral video, said the group never endorsed Obi.

Naija News reported that he said “I am still the leader of Afenifere. Afenifere has not endorsed Obi, we are endorsing Jagaban (Tinubu) for the presidency.

“As you can see, the trend, approval and 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 can see, Jagaban is accepted and we approve of him. Obi has no stand in our mind at all.”