Why We Endorsed Atiku- Factional Afenifere
A faction of the pan Yoruba socio-economic and political group, Afenifere on Wednesday reaffirmed its endorsement for the Presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as their choice in the forthcoming presidential election because of his restructuring agenda.
This was disclosed on Wednesday by a faction of Afenifere led by Pa Ruben Fasoranti in a communique issued at a town hall meeting held at Jogor Event Center, Oke-Ado, Ibadan.
The communique reads that, “We realised that it is only the presidential candidate of PDP Alhaji Atiku Abubakar that has irrevocably committed himself to restructure of this country on becoming the president of this country.
“We take note of the fact that Atiku is not a new convert to the principle of restructuring, he has been at the forefront of campaign for restructuring for almost eight years.
“In view of the foregoing, Afenifere hereby endorses the Waziri of Adamawa, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as the candidate all Yoruba people should vote for at the Saturday presidential election, we believe that his presidency will be of immense benefit not only to Yorubaland but to the country as a whole.
“We have been advocating for some time, Our position and the type of restructuring we have in mind were encapsulated in the document we made public at the Submit we held in Ibadan I. July, 2017”.
In his remark, Senator Femi Okuronmu said the essence of the gathering was to know where Yoruba stands, where they are, and to know where they are going politically.
He noted that there are two major contestant out of the 74 contestants who are vying to be the president of Nigeria in the forthcoming poll, adding that Atiku remains the only candidate that can bring development to Yoruba land.
Okuronmu said there were some reasons that make Atiku to stand out among other contestant, which include security of life’s and properties of Yoruba people which is very important, noting that as we all knows all the evils perpetrating by Fulani herdsmen, and Atiku has promised to find solution to it and he will also restructure Nigeria if elected.
He, however urged Nigerians to vote for Atiku so that he can address the security issues of the nation.
“Boko Haram has been increasing on a daily basis, incessant killings and insecurity must stop, Nigeria economy has gone done and price of foods in the market has also be increased, there is unemployment everywhere, they have turned Nigeria to poverty capital of the world.
“Northerners are the most beneficiaries of Nigeria constitution, Nigeria will develop if there is devolution in federal government and there is regional government”, he said.
Also speaking, Chief Olu Falae said what Afenifere wanted was not what APC offered them.
“Some people alleged that we dropped our son and support another person, politics is not about biological relation, Osinbajo told us that APC administration is not interested in restructuring, they said they are only interested in good governance, so this is what make us to distance ourselves from them”, he said.
Falae added that Atiku will restructure Nigeria if he is voted as the president of Nigeria, stressing that people will resist the election outcome if it doesn’t favour Atiku.
