1st November, 2022
Pa Reuben Fasoranti, the leader of Yoruba socio-political group on Tuesday insisted that the group will only endorse the presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress, APC Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu for the 2023 election.
Fasoranti said this while reacting to controversies that trailing the visit of Tinubu to members of the group in Akure, Ondo State on Sunday.
The leaders of Afenifere had at the meeting endorsed the presidential aspiration of the former Lagos governor, even as they prayed for him to realise his ambition.
However, a leader of the group based in Lagos Pa Ayo Adebanjo, had on Monday said the group had endorsed Obi as its preferred candidate for the 2023 presidential election.
But while reacting to the claim, Chief Fasoranti said in an interview on an online television on Tuesday that Afenifere has not endorsed Obi.
He also insisted that he remains the leader of the group, as he also dismissed claim that Adebanjo warned him not to receive the former Lagos governor.
He said, “I’m still the leader of Afenifere. Afenifere has not endorsed Obi, we are endorsing Jagaban (Bola Tinubu) for the presidency.
“As you can see, the trend, the approval and the acceptability. You could see what happened when Tinubu came to meet me in Akure. Media carried the whole thing. Adebanjo does not have the capacity to warn me not to welcome Tinubu. Can he do that successfully?
“What happened was that Adebanjo took a stand and I took a stand. I didn’t call him and he didn’t call me. We never spoke about the (Tinubu’s) visit. As you can see, Jagaban is accepted and we approve of him. Obi has no stand in our mind at all.”