| Amidst alleged subterranean moves by some political forces to whittle the powers of a national leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, elder statesman and Afenifere chieftain, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, has rallied to the defence of Tinubu, an acclaimed strongman of the South West. |
In an exclusive interview with The New Diplomat, the octogenarian warned that the alleged plot by the political elements in the APC and in the Buhari government is actually targeted against the Yoruba race as a whole. It is foolish, he insisted for Yoruba politicians to fall again for the age-old divide-and-rule tactics which he said had become the trademark of Northern Politicians in causing political divisiveness in other parts of the country.
“It is the tactics of the Fulani to divide-and-rule. It was this tactics they used when Akintola was there. They used him against Chief Awolowo. It won’t be fair to my generation of Yorubas if I don’t remind them that these people have come again with their tactics. The same thing happened to Chief MKO Abiola.”
He, however, blamed Tinubu for going into a merger with the Congress For Progressive Change, CPC, led then by President Muhammadu Buhari, despite strident warnings from Yoruba elders. According to him, it was both selfish and naïve of Tinubu to have gone into the merger which he said, was a mere ploy by Northern politicians to reclaim power.
But the Presidency has consistently dismissed this claim as baseless stressing that the alleged rift between President Buhari and Tinubu are mere rumours without facts. Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu reiterated that the President was in constant touch with Tinubu before, during and after the Ondo governorship polls. According to him, the President has even commended the former Lagos State Governor for congratulating the Rotimi Akeredolu, the Governor-elect of Ondo State. The Presidential aide had urged all to ignore those rumours of the rift between Tinubu and the President on the one hand and within the hierarchy of the APC leadership on the other hand.
But Chief Adebanjo believes the crisis within APC was allegedly engineered to whittle down Tinubu’s influence: “I predicted that the alliance of APC was not going to give us good government but just to send Jonathan away to enable the North to take over power. Has anything happened to the contrary now? Even the fight between Tinubu and the APC, is it for the benefit of the people?” Adebanjo declared.
“Tinubu aligned with the Congress for Progressive Change, for his own selfish interest, not for the interest of Nigeria or Yoruba land. We saw all these coming and we warned him about this northern domination which is happening now…..”
The Ondo governorship election won by the governor-elect, Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN) of the APC, is believed by many to be another indication that President Buhari and some leaders of the party are inclined to snatching the Southwest from Tinubu’s grip.
Though the Presidency said there is no rift between President Buhari and Tinubu many do not believe so. ‘’It is no longer news that pro-Buhari forces have started feeling they can take over the South-West even without Tinubu’s help and they plan to continue to alienate him in party activities until he’s frustrated out of the party. This was evident in the recent Ondo Guber elections that gave Akeredolu a landslide victory over Tinubu’s favoured candidate, Segun Abraham, of the APC.’’, said an insider.
Discussions at different political forums, including the recent victory speech by the Akeredolu, which totally omitted Tinubu’s name, are believed to reinforce the fact that Buhari forces are moving against Tinubu.
The New Diplomat gathered that part of the plot to relegate Tinubu to the background in the party are reported recent moves to dump the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo when his tenure expires in 2019 .
Osinbajo, a pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, was Attorney-General of Lagos State in the administration of Tinubu. He is widely believed to have been picked by Tinubu to be Buhari’s vice.
Adebanjo urged Yorubas to begin to unite and speak with one voice and produce responsible leaders whose interest won’t be selfish.
In a related development, there are also rumours that the APC hierarchy, may have zeroed in on and the erstwhile Governor of Ekiti State and current Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Kayode Fayemi as its possible flag-bearer for the next governorship election in Ekiti State. Fayemi was once a Tinubu loyalist but they both are no longer the best of political friends.
