By Banji Ayoola
The Buhari Osinbajo Continuity Group (BOCOG), has criticised the pan Yoruba organisation, Afenifere, for endorsing the Peoples Democratic Party’s, PDP, presidential candidate in tomorrow’s election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
In a statement issued in Abuja by its Director of Communications, Mr. Steve Otaloro, and sent to The Radiance, the group said the endorsement has put Afenifere in a position of a biased umpire.
It said that the group, being an offshoot of the legacy of the revered late Yoruba Leader, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, “should have premised itself on accurate calculations and logical stance.”
It said: “The Buhari Osinbajo Continuity Group (BOCOG), views with much concern the endorsement accorded the PDP and its flagbearer, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar in this presidential election. The Afenifere Group has put itself in the position of a biased umpire, unmerited of its status.
“The Afenifere Group, being an offshoot of Chief Obafemi Awolowo legacy, should have premised itself on accurate calculations and logical stance.
“BOCOG is hereby calling on the South-West people to ignore the position of the Afenifere, as it is scheduled to back the wrong horse as done in the 2015 presidential election where the group endorsed PDP’s Dr Goodluck Jonathan.
“BOCOG appeals to the young and the old to go out enmasse to vote for President Muhammadu Buhari in the election on the premise that his grand economic policies and the fight against corruption in the past four years have paid off very well.
“Another error identifiable with the position of the Afenifere Group is its yearning for integrity which is clearly lacking in the person of Alhaji Abubakar, but a common denominator in the character of President Muhammadu Buhari.
“BOCOG is committed to the institution of good governance in Nigeria which President Buhari represents. That is the area the Afenifere should concern itself with, mostly.
“Nigerians should endeavour to vote massively for President Muhammadu Buhari, tomorrow, to allow him complete his fight against corruption, our greatest pull-back in the country.”
As reported on Wednesday by The Radiance in a story entitled “Afenifere Endorses Atiku For Vowing To Restructure Nigeria”, the group at a gathering in Ibadan, the traditional political capital of the Yoruba people, had endorsed Abubakar’s candidature for his promise to restructure Nigeria if elected President.
The endorsement took place at a programme christened “Afenifere Town Hall Meeting on Moving Nigeria Forward” held in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital
The group led by Chief Reuben Fasoranti said that they had decided to endorse Abubakar because of his resolve to restructure Nigeria.
Eminent Yoruba leaders and elders present at the event, apart from Chief Fasoranti are former Secretary to the Federal Government, Chief Olu Falae, Senator Femi Okunrounmu, Chief Ayo Adebanjo and gubernatorial candidate of the PDP, Mr. Seyi Makinde who represented Abubakar at the event.
Fasoranti while declaring the support of the group for Abubakar said that the essence of the programme was to tell the people of the South West region to vote for Abubakar because he had promised to restructure Nigeria.
He said, “We are here to support the candidate that will implement to the letter, the restructuring of Nigeria as moved in the Ibadan declaration in 2017. We want someone that will restructure Nigeria. We want Nigeria that is restructured. The structuring that we want is the one that will not be manipulated. That is not the kind of restructuring that we want. That is what the Yoruba stand for. We are endorsing Atiku Abubakar of PDP.
Okunrounmu in his remarks said that the group had investigated the candidates contesting the presidential election and discovered that Atiku Abubakar is the best man to do the job.
He said, “This gathering is to let the Yoruba speak in one voice. This is to tell us that this is where the Yoruba are going. We are going to support Atiku Abubakar. We have seen that there are two major contenders, out of the over 70 candidates, but, Atiku Abubakar is the one we will vote for. It is Atiku that can tackle the herdsmen and Boko Haram. Buhari cannot fight them.
Adebanjo while speaking said that the group which has members cut across major political parties in the state is not a PDP group but it decided to support the PDP candidate in the interest of the Yoruba race.
He said, “They cannot take us to the promised land. It is the PDP that can do that. We are not PDP. Our members are from different political parties, but we are endorsing the PDP candidate because of the resolve to implement the restructuring agenda.”
