Afenifere’s Rift Deepens As Fasoranti Flays Adebanjo Over Attack On Supreme Court
Supreme Court’s affirmation of the victory of President Bola Tinubu in the February 25, 2023, presidential election, has further deepened the rift between Pa Ayo Adebanjo and Pa Reuben Fasoranti’s Afenifere groups as both sides have taken different positions on the apex court verdict.
While the Adebanjo’s faction, in a statement signed by Sola Ebiseni, said it viewed with dismay, the court’s ratification of Tinubu’s victory, a counter statement signed by Abagun Kole Omololu, the organising secretary of Fasoranti-led Afenifere, Thursday, disclaimed the position of the Adebanjo’s faction, saying, “such position is far from the truth about Afenifere’s leadership position on Tinubu’s victory.”
Omololu said: “Let it be on record that Afenifere leader, Chief Reuben Fasoranti, and other Afenifere leaders are not privy to such ignominious press release, did not authorise it and do not subscribe to the seditious act such may portend.
“It is merely an unfortunate misadventure of some Labour Party (LP) elements within the Afenifere fold, who would rather drag the body’s reputation in the mud to achieve whatever sinister and seditious end they might have concocted.”
Omololu added that Fasoranti had earlier congratulated Tinubu as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces on his election into office, and also expressed solidarity over his victory at the apex court.
“It is then clearly underhanded and mischievous to have such preposterous attack on the judiciary by intemperate elements within the fold, fanning the embers of national discords with political motives, using the name of Afenifere.
“We are unequivocal in reiterating that Pa Ayo Adebanjo is the acting leader, who, in the natural and traditional order of Afenifere, is expected to defer to his leader who appointed him, Chief Reuben Fasoranti, without reservations. To do otherwise is to tread such ignoble paths in national discourse as this unfortunate release reveals.
“The meeting recently held in Ogbo Ijebu, at no point raised or decided on the attack on the judiciary as the statements of the General Secretary seemed to portray. The leaders of Afenifere would like to challenge Chief Ebiseni to offer the world the true record of deliberations at the said meeting to confirm its concurrence with the communique he so released to the world.”
Meanwhile, the chairman of Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG), Wale Oshun, has called on both nonagenarians (Adebanjo and Fasoranti) to stop embarrassing the Yoruba race and leave the stage for younger elements to take over.
While he lampooned the Adebanjo’s reaction to the Supreme Court’s verdicts, he also vilified the Fasoranti’s side for responding to immaterial issue that has been settled by the court and therefore bringing the name of Yoruba people into disrepute on pages of newspapers.
Oshun said: “It is in their interests and the interest of the Yoruba race for both elders to stop talking and take a cue form the foundation set by late Obafemi Awolowo, Adekunle Ajasin and Abraham Adesanya, who once led Afenifere.”
Also irked by the open altercations, Bayo Aina, spokesman of the Tajudeen Olusi-led faction of Afenifere, said the unabated bitterness and animosity being displayed by the Adebanjo’s side towards Tinubu and other reasons, has forced their side to drop the name Afenifere and now bears Yoruba Leaders of Thoughts (YLT).
