Chief Ayo Adebanjo, elder statesman and Afenifere chieftain, said the Yoruba nation will not be deceived again by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to vote for President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2019 presidential election.
Speaking, Adebanjo, who has thrown his weight behind Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said Tinubu succeeded in selling Buhari to the South-West in 2015 due to his claim that the president has integrity and the willpower needed to turn the fortunes of the country around.
He said three years down the line, Nigerians, especially the Yoruba, have realised that the president is not a man of integrity who also failed to keep to his promises, one of which is restructuring which is in the manifesto of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
According to Adebanjo, Tinubu himself has realised he made a great mistake entering into alliance with Buhari but he is ashamed of saying it out.
“Do you think we are stupid people in the South-West? Yoruba people are more intelligent than all that. Tinubu succeeded in 2015 because of the fake integrity attached to Buhari. He succeeded in bringing Buhari because of the fake integrity attached to him but the last three years has exposed him to be fake.
“People have seen him to be fake. He is not somebody anyone can rely upon and I have no doubt in my mind that Tinubu would have seen the stupidity of aligning with him. By now, Tinubu must have realised the foolish mistake he made by aligning with him but he will not come out to admit it.
“Yoruba people are too intelligent to be used again. Once bitten, twice shy. Tinubu has sold the Yoruba by aligning with Buhari, even at this stage. He agreed with Buhari to do restructuring, to do federalism. When the man now got there and he is not doing it, has Tinubu got the courage to pull out?
“There are killings right and left, but they are quiet. They are quiet on the issue of revenue allocation. Even the case of local government under this restructuring, Tinubu took Obasanjo to court, it is part of restructuring programme and the man who handled the case in court was Osinbajo.
“They won the case at the Supreme Court. Under what principle did they take the then President Obasanjo to court? They sold out and the same Osinbajo, who took Obasanjo to court for not following the federal system, is now saying he does not understand what the federal system means”.
Adebanjo also berated Vice President Yemi Osinbajo for keeping quiet on the issue of restructuring, saying his desire to remain in Buhari’s cabinet despite the government’s insincerity on restructuring shows that he is not loyal to the Yoruba people.
“The unfortunate thing about Osinbajo is that he was born into federalism. His father and I were followers of Awolowo. Osinbajo is intelligent and well informed. It is a sad story that all the Yoruba we believe would be protecting our interest sold out, led by Tinubu”.
“I have told him that when you agreed with Tinubu to restructure Nigeria and to allow everybody to develop at their own pace and he is no longer doing that, why don’t you get out if you are sincere and loyal to Yoruba people?” Adebanjo asked.
“He organised the APC manifesto and put restructuring there to deceive the Yoruba that their interest would be protected and when their interest is no longer protected, why is it that he is still there?” Adebanjo queried.
