Leader of the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, Pa Ayo Adebanjo, has again emphasized that the 1999 Constitution must be changed for Nigeria to begin to move in the direction of peace, unity and development.
The elderstateman who is never shy to give his stance on the constitution of the country fingered the 1999 Constitution as the problem of Nigeria, adding that the country cannot afford to go into the 2023 general elections with the provisions enshrined in the constitution.
Adebanjo said this during an interview with the Arise TV on Sunday, in reaction to the emergence of Alhaji Abubakar Atiku as the official flagbearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the primary election which held in Abuja, Saturday.
According to him, the Northerners have begun to use the weakness of the 1999 constitution against their southern counterparts.
He lamented why the constitution gave more voting power to the North through the number of local government as well as states.
“The constitution that they are using against us to control the voting power, who made it?. It is this present constitution that created more local government in the North than in the South, more states in the North than in the South. And I pointed this out several times.”
Since the emergence of Atiku as the flagbearer of the PDP, indications emerged that some Southerner governors and stakeholders in the party may have negotiated for the Vice-presidential ticket while the presidential ticket goes to the North.
Reacting to the reports, Adebanjo issued a stern warning to any Southern politician that might want to join forces with Atiku or any northern candidate in 2023 to do so at their risk, adding that the Southerners will only vote a candidate from their region.
He insisted that the president after Muhammadu Buhari should come from the South, for the sake of “fairness and equity”
He continued, “These people are deceiving us. What we are saying is change this constitution. For as long as Buhari is there, if he doesn’t change this constitution, the country will break. It is only an unpatriotic Southerner who will now say he is going to vote for a Northerner.
“For a Northerner to rule this country for 16 years and a Muslim northerner, in an heterogeneous society, multicultural, multilingual, we are not fools.
“We got worse and worse with these people in the South. The governors and those speaking for us in the South are not with us, they are not speaking for the masses and we are going to demonstrate it now if they go further. No Southerner will sit down and allow a Northerner to rule us for 16 years. We want to be in Nigeria, we won’t be in Nigeria that is dominated by a section of the country without any reason, no way!. Leave those who are supporting them to go along with them, but I tell you if they don’t concede their position and go back to equity and inclusiveness, they should forget Nigeria,” he added.
