 Afeni Farak calls for Southeast Presidency as they urge fairness. And like a state governor's advisory council has approved a second term for Gavna, Jire Saoulu. This is Plus Politics. I'm Kofi Bartels. You're welcome. Leader of Yoruba Social Political Group Afeni Farak, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, has said that the presidential aspirants from the Southwestern geopolitical zone in Nigeria, including Vice President Yemi Oshibajo and former state governor Bola Tinubu should forget the presidential ambitions. He also said it was a turn of Nigeria's Southeast to produce Nigeria's next president after the regime of President Muhammad Buhari. Now joining us to discuss this development, we have a very, very chieftain, Boyga Adejimo. Good evening to you, sir. Good evening to you. It's nice to be back here. Is this the opinion of the leader of Afeni Farak, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, or is this the opinion of the entire Afeni Farak Social Political Organization, which in turn speaks for the Southwest? It is the opinion of us, members of Afeni Farak. Let me add a little more to that introduction. The highest body, the highest organ that we have in Afeni Farak is the corpus, the national corpus. And in that body, we are just about 60 in the whole of the federation in the, well, eight states. We are the Yoruba or Khor naturally. And I'm a member of that body, the highest body, but I'm also a member of the executive of the Afeni Farak. And we are just about nine, in which case, if anyone should know, I should know. And if I'm saying that Papa has spoken for all of us, you can easily just tell from the bodies that I belong to that, yes, this is the standard of the Afeni Farak. Interesting. Can you understand that this may be a shock to quite a lot of people, even those outside the southwestern part of Nigeria, who, you know, feel that those from that zone will support their sons who have, and daughters who have a presidential aspirations? Can you understand that this may be perceived in shock? Well, and whereas that got in Nigeria, in which case all we want to do is play in the potism of some sort. Now, those who don't know Afeni Farak, let me start by saying that again, we are in a climb where we easily forget, we have even forgotten what the founders of the nation, the founding fathers laid down. The Afeni Farak remains the only party of one of the founders, and we are very proud of that heritage. There is no party that you could say this is a Madu Belos party, there is no party that is going to say this is a Ziki West party. The Afeni Farak remains the only social political party, even though we may not be in registration, that has followed the principles and the ethics of the Awolawa movement and what Papawawa stands for. What I'm trying to say is this, Afeni Farak's credo is to remain on the high moral ground, high moral ground. As far back as in the late 30s, 40s, Papawawa was supported anesthetically, who was vying for the chair of the late Abba Makkoli, who was leaving the seat as the chair of the NCRC. He supported anesthetically against Prince Adelike Adidwin, who was not only a Yoruba man, but an Ijebu man like Papawawa, but he did it on principle. It is not about us ever in which you will find that it is going to be a support to a supposed clansman. If we are that kind of an organization, then we won't be different from the people that have held Nigeria hostage, we won't be different from those who have this sense of entitlements to everything in Nigeria. I will go ahead and tell you that the Afeni Farak supported the Northern Cameroons joining Nigeria against certain people from the North who didn't want the Northern Cameroons to join Nigeria. Afeni Farak did that and got the Northern people of Gongola and Adelike Adidwin today, who were originally part of the German Cameroons that were later transferred to the French and Adelike did this plebiscite which Papawawa championed and became part of Nigeria. We did the same thing in Southern Cameroon with Endelike, who was our ally, but we lost narrowly. And again, we have demonstrated that times and times again, during the time of Laji Shio Shagari as president, the ruling party then expelled Shugaba and it was the Afeni Faray who went ahead and did the court case, Pro Bono, so Shugaba brought back to the country, in fact, they repatriated him. And the list is endless. I will tell you something for a fact today that many people don't know. The Afeni Faray remains the only political organization that is totally, totally committed to the unity of this country. And I will tell you why I have said so. In the First Republic, we were the party in power in the Southwest, in the Western region, as it were then. And then we were the leader of opposition in the North. Many people will find this to be absolutely surprising to them, to know that the action group then, which was Afeni Faray, became the leader of opposition in the North. It was Laji Maito, who was an Afeni Faray member, was an EG member, who was the leader of opposition in the North. And we were the leader of opposition even in the Eastern region. We made history with S.G. Koku, who was of the action group, who contested against his own father, who was in SCSE and deputed him. And we had as many as eight members in the Eastern House of Assembly. And we were the leader of opposition in the East. And that made us Pan-Nigerian in nature. And we displayed that again recently when General Abacha deposed Soutan Dasuki. And we went to court. We took it up and said it was not exactly done due to a well-laid out plan, it was done to just humiliate the man. And we went to court. We were the only group. No other group did it, no Southeastern group, no Middle Belt group did it. It was Afeni Faray that did it. Interesting. And again, let me finish this. And again, in 2015, we supported Good Luck Jonathan and his vice, who was from the North, against a Bawari who had a Yoruba vice presidential candidate. And we did that based on principle again because of what we asked for, which we've been asking for since 1999, which is to repeal this constitution, to have a new constitutional conference, which we made a Bawari to do by setting up a constitutional review, although they thought something put an end to that. But Jonathan listened to us and then did the conferment of 2014. And we wanted him to come and implement it. And you can imagine if Jonathan had been there. But again, we will always stand on a high moral ground because the use of tomorrow must know what it takes, what it means to stand firm and to be just. So we are not actually rooting for an ego presidency. We are actually rooting for justice, for fairness. We are rooting for freedom, for opportunity. But we are digital, interesting history you've given us. Looking at the action group days and the formation of the foundation of this group called Affenifer. Why the Southeast? Well, because they've never been given a shot. We had, well, even if we are going back to just 23 years ago, when we started this new dispensation, we had President Dabaston Jo of the Eurovastok. He spent eight years. We had Yara Dua who spent actually three years because people will want to say Jonathan spent six years ago. Jonathan spent only five years and three months. So we had President Jonathan from the South-South who spent five years and three months. And then we had President Bawari who is only seventh year and will make it to the eighth year. And again, where is the Southeast? Where has been the Southeast ever since 1966, January? They've only had a shot through Euro NC for six months, and that's all. And is it fair? Is it fair to a group of people who perhaps are the most industrialized? Many people in Nigeria today will wonder, why would a group with such an industrious, illustrious pedigree not be allowed near the presidency? You can see what they produce in the Southeast with all the marginalization that is going on. We have, you know, same motors. We have the factories in Naba. And we have everything that should make every Nigerian to be proud of. So what we are rooting for is justice. They've never had been given a shot. And if you don't want them to have a shot at the presidency, like they've been saying that they want to go, then let them go. OK, go ahead. Why make it look as if only some people are entitled to the presidency? That is wrong. That is not the kind of legacy we want to live with our children. That's not the Nigeria of the future, because it will be based on injustice. It will be based on fairness. It will be based on pre-bendalism. It will be based on cacistocracy. So we want equity. We want justice. But it is a fairly fair as a social political organization that represents the southwest part of Nigeria, not in danger of alienating itself from the aspirations or the desires and call it that of the people in the southwest. We look at the all-progressives Congress. We look at the political structure in the southeast. It's majorly the all-progressives Congress. You look at the likes of Bola Mithin, who've held sway in the southeast. And these politicians, even the vice president, have groundswell full worship in the southwest. We have had agitations in recent months and years for Yoruba Nation, citing several cases of marginalization and injustice. And you're very well aware of this. Won't a fair be alienating itself by going against what may be, and I used to what may, the larger desire, the desire of the majority of people who come from southwest Nigeria? So in other words, once we have the president from the southwest, then everything is fine? I'm asking you. In which case it didn't matter if this country is going to end up being a failed state, or we want to say Yoruba man as president? Are you saying a Yoruba man, maybe one of the two, that your leader mentioned, if they come to power, like Gerald B. a failed state? Is that what you're saying, sir? That's not what I'm saying, but what I'm saying is this. It doesn't just make sense to believe that all that it is to what the Yoruba will aspire to be is just to have a Yoruba president. We've had a Yoruba president for eight years. We had a Yoruba president for a vice president for almost eight years. That's like 16 years of Yoruba being at the top, either number one or number two. And what has he given us? As at this moment, you are right about many things. There is agitation for Yoruba nation. The affinity is not. Let me say that again. It's not against the agitation for Yoruba nation. We've never been. In fact, we've supported all those who are asking for the Yoruba nation. The only thing is we are committed to still salvaging this country if there is anything to salvage. And in 2017, the opportunity to organize what was later to become known as the Bando de Clarish. And in which case, we asked for the critical minimum, which was restructuring. And we invited the other ethnicities. We invited the Aneze, we invited the Pande, we invited the Midubel Forum. And thereafter, the southern Midubel Forum, the SMBL, was bathed by the aperitif. And for five years, we've kept that going. And it is the strongest bonding group of ethnicities that this country has ever witnessed. Because many of them don't even last a year. But here we are. This is our fifth year. And in that group, we have eminence men. We have the Aneze. We have a penifera. We have Pande. We have the Midubel Forum. We have Papaya Clarke as our chair. And not another thing about the penifera, we bathed it. But why would we see the chair? So somebody else. But then Papaya Clarke has always been a patriot. He's three years older than Papaya de Baidu. And he's still relevant to the aspirations of those of us who want a better country with dignity. We want to live with dignity. Interesting. Everybody knows there's a war. There's a war going on in Nigeria, presently. There's no part of Nigeria where there's no war going on. So how do we begin to look for peace? The very first thing a nation needs is peace. How do we maintain peace if anyone is going to face the truth today? We have all manners of insecurity. But the greatest insecurity we have is that in which there could be a dissolution of this country, if some people still want to maintain that they have a total sense of entitlement to the presidency of Nigeria. Which people are you referring to, sir? Well, those who have the sense of belonging, you know them, they feel that not. Those who are even well-prepared by Nigeria made that statement. It was replied by the Northern Elders Council, Elders Forum. And they said that, well, it's laughable if they return in Northern and nothing will happen. That is the kind of statement that can lead to the dissolution of this country. Why make it look as if only you have that sense? When they wanted the North to rule in 2015, they did everything. They came out and said it is their turn. For kind of outlaw, out of the years of existence, since 1960, and we're talking about 62 years. Believe me, apart from about just three years in the 70s, he runs these six months in the 60s. And, well, three months of Philegon. The rest are in the Northerners. And in this way, even about just eight years, it's going to be surpassed by the time we add three years of Yeradua plus eight years of Wari. That's going to make 11 years. But is it very, very not ignoring the peculiar circumstances that the political parties find themselves in? We can look at, for instance, the People's Democratic Party that has yet to zone its presidential ticket to any part of the country. That committee led by the governor of the state, Samuel O'Tom. For instance, in the PDP, which may yet produce the president of Nigeria, what some of the members from Northern Nigeria are saying, and as parents for the presidency, is that since the party came to power in 1999, and since the advent of the Democratic Disrepublic, that they've held sway, or held the number one position for only three years, out of the 16 years the party has been the ruling party in Nigeria. You talked about Yeradua. That's all. Obasanjo has come and gone eight years. Jonathan has come and gone six years. He said five years, three months. Five years. Yeah, three months. So what should the people in the members of the PDP from Northern Nigeria, what should they do? Because they've not had that ticket beyond three years. You see, let's not make this thing too simplistic. And then, of course, let's not make it an emotional thing. It's a rational thing. And all we are trying to say is that we are not doing the ye boi favor. No. It is just going to be emotional to say, my party has not had it. Some have had it. Those are just relying upon such arguments that, at the end of the day, will lead us back into 2015, just like I said. The idea of 2015 was not about Jonathan doing anything wrong as such. It was simply about not allowing a Southern Christian president to continue. They said it. It was in the papers. We want the power back. And now that they've had the power for seven years, what have they done with it? Nigeria has become better. But Mr. Dejimo, you talk about not making it simplistic. Maybe a fairly fairer is the one making it simplistic. By not taking into account the peculiar circumstances in all the various political parties, like I'll just give you an example of the PDP. If you have a what do you call it again, one sweeping statement for all the parties, one sweeping view, without looking at the peculiarities of the different parties, maybe it might not be doing us justice to the situation on the ground. OK, now I will go deeper than that. When President Babangida was going to start his journey into handling the country back to politicians, he wrote to Papua Allo, I said, please, Papua, come and help us. We want to start the process of returning to democracy. And I'm sure you know about what I'm trying to say here. Papua wrote back and said, it doesn't see anything happening. And he tried to ask members of Papua and Inferi to stay clear of what Babangida was going to do because he had seen it beyond what anybody would want to see on the periphery. This is not about the surface matter, but a deep, intense scrutiny. And he said, don't go there. And how did it end? Papadiranger, in 1999, when he went to Kuta Pane, it said almost the same thing that without this constitution being changed, without this structural defect, that Nigeria is going nowhere. And my leaders into war, people thought the man was joking at the Kuta Pane, go and start YouTube. You will find it. But then I also realized there could be something in it. It set up a commission to look at how to effect changes in the constitution. If it wasn't convinced, then why would we do it? We said the same thing to Jonathan. It set up the 2014 Concarp, in which case maybe all that we are trying to do is to think ahead, to look at 20 years. People are looking at tomorrow. They are looking at 2023. They're looking at selfish interests. And where will it end? All of us. We are trying to solve the problem. There's so much unrest in the East. The IPOV are there. Those who are the movement for the emancipation of people is there. There's so much killings going on. And what do we have? Rather than kill or go after the terrorists in the North, what do we have? The terrorists that will go, right today, we are even told that these same terrorists went to an army formation, a military formation in Bono or thereabouts. They've gone to the NDTA. They've had their strikes in Cardona that has no less than eight military solutions. What we are trying to say is this. If you are going one way and things are not working and you keep doing the same thing, you keep asking for failure at each time. Interesting. Sorry, I need to learn, please. And if that failure is going to be recurring, it's like a marriage in which we have a separation. You are not yet divorced. You can be separated and live in the same house. But all is not well. The next logical thing is a divorce. Before we get to that divorce stage, we are looking for a solution. The people that are so restive right now are the whole of the South East. And they have a reason to be. Rather than go after the terrorists, IPOB has been labeled a terrorist organization. Rather than call terrorist terrorists, they are being called bandits. We are not fools in this country. But the court has given a ruling on that and upgraded their status to terrorists. But talking about restructuring and the view of Payaya, regarding this, sometime early this year, he said that he and indeed the pan-European group, will not queue behind any presidential candidate until Nigeria's constitution is changed. Calling the constitution, quote, a military constitution. He said that, I quote, we are not contending who is the president now. We don't believe in the constitution that we have. Until that constitution is changed, then we'll talk about where the president will be. We have no candidate now until that constitution is changed because I don't want to go on an uncharted sea that is the implication now. So what has changed? The man said he won't queue and the organization will not queue behind any candidate. Why the U-turn? No, there's no U-turn. Actually, what has happened is this. We have told them nothing short of restructuring is going to work. It is a statement of fact. If they decide that they want to go ahead, we are not participating in the polls, but if they decide to go ahead, we've told them a panacea. We've given them a way out of this lockdown. And we are saying, if you want peace, then go for any book, presidency. It is advocacy. We don't have the range of power to determine any party. The kind of presidential candidate they should throw up. So it is not as if it is within a power to make a decree or to make a categorical statement that must be followed. That is not what is happening. It is like a father who has said it is not going to work. Nothing will work. Go back to restructuring. Go back to the 1963 constitution. Don't follow this presidential election. But if people are not going to listen, at least let their conscience be the judge. Now listen, today it came out that for anyone who is aspiring to be president, you must buy a firm for 100 million Nair. You are actually telling that person to go and look for the money any which way. And the first thing the person would do if he wins, is to steal the 100 million back from you people. Your money is going to take it back here. You think it's going to 4 feet 100 million. And those who lose will have to be compensated. We are saying that this system is not working. We have to go. Go back to the presidential system. In which case it is advocacy. We belong, like I said, to a group that we formed. We bat the group. And the group and us have come out to make a joint statement. In which case, what Papadebanda has said is just echoing what the Southern Medieval Forum, the SNBLF, have said. For peace to reign, let an Ibu man be president. We have to go, we have to go. I would like to thank you very much for your time. We definitely would love to have you back again and we will do that as soon as possible because the issues are still germane until we cross that bridge in 2023. Boyga Dejimo, chief ten of Pan-Yoruba social cultural organization, Affinity Fair. Political go. We are not a social cultural group. All right, political group. Let's talk in that, where we let the Akbar or Mordudua. Thank you very much for the correction. I appreciate your time, sir. Thanks for joining us. Thank you very much. Thank you for having me. Thanks for staying with us on Plus Politics, we'll take a short break. And when we return, Lagos de Gavna Babajideh Sawolu has gotten the approval from a group to run for a second time. We'll be right back.