The pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation Afenifere has received accolades from the Igbo apex socio-cultural group Ohanaeze Ndigbo for its bravery, determination, and unshakable commitment to the values of pan-Nigerianism and the continued existence of the country regardless of whose ox gets gored.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Afenifere insisted that South-East Nigerian and Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi had won the election for president on February 25.
The organisation also supported Obi’s legal action to overturn the All Progressives Congress candidate Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s declaration of victory.
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The statement was released following the organization’s monthly general meeting, which was held at the country residence of Chief Ayo Adebanjo, the organization’s acting leader, in Isanya Ogbo, Ogun State.
But on Wednesday, the leader of the organisation, Reuben Fasoranti, in a statement, rejected the position taken by Adebanjo and the others.
When Fasoranti resigned from his position in 2021 due to his late age, he appointed Mr. Adebanjo as the group’s acting leader.
Adebanjo, however, backed Obi, while Fasoranti supported Tinubu.
Afenifere was praised for standing up for justice in a statement released on Thursday by Ohanaeze, a group that supports Adebanjo’s viewpoint.
The statement, titled, “Ohanaeze Salutes Afenifere On Its Resolutions,” was signed by Ohanaeze’s National Publicity Secretary, Dr Alex Ogbonnia.
It read partly;
We are not unmindful of Afenifere’s role in restoring democracy to Nigeria through the platform of the National Democratic Coalition. The Afenifere leaders, with alliances across the national divide and the international bodies, launched the National Democratic Coalition, which eventually gave birth to the Committee for Unity and Understanding, among others.
We thank the Afenifere for telling the world the true position on the February 25 presidential election, which, from available, records was won by Mr. Peter Obi of the Labour Party.
Furthermore, we commend the Afenifere for its reassurances of security and support to stranger communities in Yorubaland, particularly Lagos State, and for reassuring our people that there is no war between the Yoruba and any other group in Nigeria, especially the Igbo.
Ohanaeze also commended the Afenifere for strongly condemning the “campaigns of calumny and acts of ethnic violence deployed by some politicians and their hired criminal gangs in several parts of the federation during the gubernatorial election.”
“We join Afenifere in restating our confidence in the judiciary with the hope that it will acquit itself creditably in the election litigation presently before it without fear or favour,” the organisation said.
