2023: Afenifere never endorsed Peter Obi – Fasoranti

On Nov 2, 2022

The leader of the pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, Chief Reuben Fasoranti has declared that the group has never endorsed the Labor Party presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi, for the 2023 presidential election.

The acting leader of the group, Pa Ayo Adebanjo, had earlier said the group endorsed Obi as its preferred candidate for the forthcoming elections but this was reversed when Chief Fasoranti blessed and endorsed Tinubu for the elections when the latter paid him a visit at his Akure residence, Ondo State, last Sunday.

In an interview he granted to an online television, which went viral on Tuesday, Fasoranti said Adebanjo did not have the capacity to warn me not to welcome Tinubu, stating that he (Fasoranti) was still the leader of the Afenifere, who had such power.

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.”