2023 Presidency: Afenifere Won’t Support Any Candidate Now — Ayo Adebanjo
Leader of the pan-Yoruba sociopolitical group, Afenifere, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, has said the organization will not support any presidential candidate in 2023 until the 1999 constitution is changed.
Adebanjo also faulted former President Olusegun Obasanjo that oil in the Niger Delta belongs to Nigeria, saying rather, the resources belong to the people of the region.
Obasanjo had said in a newspaper report that oil in the Niger Delta belonged to Nigeria and attempts by Chief Edwin Clark to put the record straight were rebuffed by a statement by Areas Consultative Forum, ACF, supporting the position of the former president.
He spoke at a press conference held in Lagos and attended by Afenifere leaders including Senator Femi Okurounmu, Chief Supo Shonibare, Professor Ebun Sonaya, Chief Tunde Onakoya, Chief Lanre Anjolaiya, Alhaji Abdullahi Adebayo Inaolaji, Ms Nike Olujemibola and the Afenifere spokesperson, Jare Ajayi.
The Afenifere leader, who insisted that his group will not support a candidate in 2023 if there is no change in the 1999 constitution, said: “We are not contending who is the president now because we don’t believe in the constitution until that constitution is changed, we will talk of who the president should be.
“We have no candidate now until the constitution is changed because I don’t want to go on an uncharted sea. You must agree on the constitution before you say you want to be part of it. I am not going to be part of a constitution that is a military constitution. That is the bone of contention, which Buhari has not disputed. The constitution we are operating a military constitution.
“Let us pray we should all be in 2023, the rest is speculation. That is our stand.”
When asked where the presidency should go in 2023, Adebanjo said: “We want a change of the constitution, if that constitution is not changed, I don’t discuss where the presidency should go to. Why do I say so? When I don’t believe in the 1999 constitution, why should I be telling you who should be the next president?
“The constitution we are working with is not acceptable, when we agree on the constitution, then we will decide who should be supported.”
Oil belongs to N-Delta
On Obasanjo’s remarks on resource control, the Afenifere leader cited the 1960 and 1963 constitutions which touched on the revenue allocation said that the 1963 Constitution allowed for payment of 50 per cent in Section 140, to the region where the revenue was derived.
He said: “I was shocked and highly disappointed that the General was quoting profusely from the military imposed a constitution on the country. A constitution that has been described as fraudulent and rejected since its introduction.
The attempt by Elder Statesman, Chief Edwin Clark to put the record straight was rebuffed by a statement by Arewa Consultative Forum supporting the statement by General Obasanjo. Before the issue degenerates therefore into disputation between two respectable Elder statesmen. I owe a duty to our founding fathers to throw some light on the historical constitutional evolution of the country to help us move Nigeria forward.
