Pa Ayo Adebanjo’s faction of the Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, has reempasized its disagreement with the judgment of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC), regarding the 2023 presidential election.
News About Nigeria gathered that the group has maintained its support for Peter Obi of the Labour Party, one of the candidates in the election, in his intention to appeal the judgment at the Supreme Court.
In a communique issued after a meeting in Ogun State, Afenifere expressed its support for a further appeal to the Supreme Court in the interest of the nation, while also highlighting aspects of the PEPC judgment that it disagreed with.
The group faulted the court’s pronouncement that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had the liberty to return to manual collation of election results and criticized what it called “primitive electoral brigandage.”
Additionally, the group disagreed with the PEPC’s pronouncement that Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, should be treated as Nigeria’s 37th State when computing the presidential election outcome.
Afenifere asserted that this was not in line with Nigeria’s political structure and that Nigeria is not a 37-state federation.
It also emphasized its commitment to just principles and expressed its support for Peter Obi. The faction called on the Federal Government to address the demands of labour unions concerning the removal of fuel subsidies and the rising cost of living to avert a national strike.
The group pointed out that while the government has been urging Nigerians to make sacrifices, it has been increasing the number of political appointees. Afenifere called on the government to consider the plight of Nigerians and listen to the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to prevent impending strikes and ease the burden on the economy.
The socio-cultural organisation went on to commend Nigerians for resisting the Federal Government’s attempt to lead the ECOWAS on a military intervention in the Republic of Niger.
The faction reiterated its commitment to democratic processes and its rejection of undemocratic access to power, whether through military means or electoral malpractice.
Meanwhile, note that there is another faction of Afenifere led by Pa Reuben Fasoranti, which supported President Bola Tinubu in the 2023 presidential election and distanced itself from Adebanjo’s support for Peter Obi, accusing him of causing division and confusion within the group.
