Bolanle Lawal
The Presidential ambition of the former governor of Lagos and All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu (BAT) got a boast as a pan-Yoruba, the Yoruba World Congress(YWC) formally endorsed it .
The YWC, at a grand ceremony held in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital argued that Tinubu remains the best candidate for Nigeria’s presidency.
The event was graced by the representatives of the religion, youths, women groups as well as formal and informal sectors.
In his address, the YWC representative in Ekiti State, Mr Adeyemi Oluwasegun hinted that the group was the first to endorse the presidential bid of Tinubu.
According to him, the YWC believes that Tinubu has already won the election, adding that changing the narrative from having agitation of secession to clamouring for unity of Nigeria, having found out that APC picked him as the Presidential candidate.
Adeyemi used the occasion to appeal to other Yoruba groups who are yet to key into the Tinubu project to do so and commence full scale mobilisation ahead of the 2023 polls .
Adeyemi said “YWC is the first group to formally endorsed Tinubu, saying the purpose of this endorsement is to celebrate the victory of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“This is because we found out that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a Yoruba man and the APC has picked him to be the Presidential candidate of the party, that led to the fact that YWC changed the narrative from having this agitation of secession to clamouring for unity in Nigeria.
“The message we are preaching is that now its our turn like the mantra is all about but it’s not just about our turn as a right, we are all saying that the unity of Nigeria is sacrosanct.
“We don’t want to use the fact that we are clamouring for change of government and start being disruptive. We don’t want to be disruptive because we have tried the diplomacy way, the advocacy way now we are doing it from the political because we believe in the interest.
“We believe in what Asiwaju is presenting to the public, we believe in his plans looking at his manifesto. We believe with Asiwaju, the betterment of Nigeria is possible. They should join this course because we have only one Yoruba and its only Yoruba that can make Yoruba grow.”
Another highlight of the event was the Presentation of Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) by YWC to leadership of the APC in Ekiti.
The document which contained charter of demands urged Tinubu to make security his utmost priority as soon as he assumes power.
The group boasted that Tinubu’s Presidency was already a done deal also admonished the APC Flag bearer to float regional communication network Power Generation and religion deregulation amongst others .
The group pushed for the establishment of SouthWest Inland Revenue Service and restructuring to give room for an healthy competition amongst the three geopolitical zones.
Speaking at the occasion, the Deputy Chairman of APC in Ekiti State, Hon. Sola Elesin stated that devotions have been erected to ensure that Tinubu is victorious at the polls.
Eleshin described Ekiti State as one of the frontline states in the party across the country, noting that a committee has been set up to ensure victory at the poll.
He commended YWC for the endorsement adding that over 95 support groups are rooting for the party’s Presidential candidate.
“We have been preparing ahead of the 2023 Presidential election. We have set up a committee who takes charge of activities for the election under the leadership of the Honourable Minister for Trade and Industry, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, Co-Chairman by the former governor of the state, Dr. John Kayode Fayemi and the incumbent governor, Biodun Oyebanji and a host of other leaders in the state.
“We are preparing hard in the sense Ekiti is unique because we want to triumph and make the best out of it. We know that in Nigeria today when you talk about APC, Ekiti State is at the frontline and we are going to work hard to achieve success for our Presidential candidate and by 2023 we shall triumph.
“As at present we are having about 95 support groups apart from this unique YWC. Initially, they were not in support of a Presidential election in Nigeria, they want a Yoruba nation and we are glad that they realise that before we can fight any course, we must have unity of purpose in Yoruba land.
“When we fight and we have the Presidency at our beacon, we will have the opportunity to fight for any right in the country.”
There were goodwill messages from the representatives of the various interest groups such as Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Muslim community, Isese, Market people, Farmer Association, Artisans, Students, Professional bodies, youths, Women among others.
