Pa Ayo Adebanjo, a chieftain of the Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere has blasted the Vice-president Yemi Osinbajo and Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu over their silence on the recent happenings and attacks in the South-west region.
Pa Adebanjo has said that Osinbajo and Tinubu are betraying the South-west for keeping mute about restructuring and the killings respectively. In an interview with Daily Independent, he stated that the Northern elite are using the constitution to oppress the South.
He said;
“The 1999 constitution is an obnoxious constitution by the Northern elite to oppress the South. All the things that are causing conflict in the country today are in the constitution made by the military.”
Pa Adebanjo further stressed that he wouldn’t support Tinubu if he seeks for his support when he wants to run for Presidency. He added that he wouldn’t even support his own biological son if he decides to run under this present condition. The elder statesman described the constitution as an ‘obnoxious’ one.
He said;
“Tinubu declares for president tomorrow and seeks my support, I won’t support him. I have told him that even if they choose my son as president under this constitution, I will oppose him. This is an obnoxious constitution. It is a constitution by the Northern elite to oppress the South. All the things that are causing conflict in the country today is in the constitution made by the military.”
He added that Tinubu betrayed the Yoruba people on the grounds of his continued silence on the violence rocking the South-west.
“All these things they are doing against the South-West now, what is Tinubu saying about them? He can’t talk. That was why I said he is deceiving (President Muhammadu) Buhari and Buhari is also deceiving him.
“Tinubu’s supporters have claimed that one of the reasons why we parted ways was because he likes spending money for people while elders like us are stingy. That is true and I have challenged him that if I were to ask for money, how much did he give me before I took the action that made him governor?
“When he was governor, he was stubborn on certain issues. So, during Christmas, he gave me, Pa Abraham Adesanya and Olanihun Ajayi cows as Christmas presents, but we returned them to him. We told him we would not accept his gifts because we talked to him but he refused to listen.”
Commenting on the actions of Vice-president Osinbajo, Pa Adebanjo stated he’s not handicapped. He also cited instances in which Osinbajo proved in the past to be very judicious in his dealings.
“How is Osinbajo handicapped? Is that not the man who said: what do we understand by restructuring? How is he handicapped? Is that not the same Osinbajo who took (former President Olusegun) Obasanjo to court over the creation of local government areas in Lagos on the issue of true federalism when he was Attorney-General in Lagos? What has changed now?” He said.
