Obasanjo Tricked Us In 2003, Says Afenifere Leader
The leader of apex Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, Chief Reuben Fasoranti, has said that the former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo took advantage of the group in 2003 during the Presidential election, saying he dumped them after riding on their back to power.
Fasoranti, who spoke during a monitored radio programme in Akure, the Ondo state capital, expressed doubt on a possible reconciliation between the members of the group and the former President.
He lamented how the former President persuaded the six Yoruba states controlled by the Alliance for Democracy (AD) and strong affiliate of Afenifere to support his second term bid, save Lagos State under Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu, who objected to the plan.
The elder statesman said, “Obasanjo tricked us into losing the election at that time and that is the grouse we have against him.
“At that time, he advised us that we should boycott the election, which we hesitatingly agreed to do. At the end of the day, he left us in the lurch.
“He dissociated himself from what we are doing, so there is no love lost between Afenifere and Obasanjo.”
While speaking on whether there could be a possible reconciliation between Chief Obasanjo and the group, Fasoranti said, “He has his own ways of doing things, he doesn’t compromise even among his own people, he is not 100 percent accepted because of his utterances in recent times.
So, people are watching, I don’t think he has a following. You know his own stance, he is very uncompromising; even up till now, it is very difficult making an approach or coming into an agreement.”
Fasoranti also condemned the anti-corruption crusade of the All Progressives Congress (APC) government led by President Muhammadu Buhari, saying it is sectional and discriminatory .
The Afenifere leader said, there are some sacred cows whose excesses are shielded from the law in the present administration.
According to him, “Buhari government is a disappointment as we can see now; professing to fight corruption, look at the state of corruption in the country. Some of his people are entrenched in deep corrupt practices.
“And some of them are his men and nothing drastic has been done about them. It is not the best: he is not fighting corruption, what is happening now, some of his people are being shielded.”
He dispelled the sack of former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal and others, saying its mere subterfuge to deceive the people and avoid being accused of nepotism.
“As it is now, he is not fighting corruption. He shouldn’t shield any sacred cow at all, no matter how close some of them are to him. He must be forthright and people will know that he is being fair,” he said.