Afenifere leader, group differ on Buhari’s chances in South-West
A leader of the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, Senator Ayo Fasanmi, has predicted that President Muhammadu Buhari will defeat the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and other contestants in next year’s presidential election.
But the Yoruba Youth Socio-Cultural Association maintained that Buhari would lose presidential poll in the South-West.
Fasanmi, a 93-year-old pharmacist and staunch follower of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, expressed confidence that Buhari would win the election.
He warned Nigerians not to make the mistake of voting for a wrong person, stressing that such action could reverse all the gains made by the Buhari administration.
He said Buhari inherited a very bad situation which he noted was caused by massive corruption.
Fasanmi stated, “I am very confident that President Buhari will win again. The record is there to show. What he met on the ground is complete wreckage and to build on such, it will take a lot of time. He has done his best. The level of corruption he met was gargantuan. But today, the anti-corruption forces are very strong.
“President Buhari will win not only in the South-West but will emerge the overall winner in the contest.
“We should be patient with him because tough times never last but tough people do. We must make sure that the legacy which Chief Awolowo left behind is not destroyed.”
The YYSA, however, said in a statement made available to our correspondent on Friday by the National President, Olalekan Hammed, and Secretary, Olawale Ajao, that Buhari would stand no chance in the South-West.
They said this while reacting to the comments made by Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State and the Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, that Buhari would win in the region.
The statement read, “The people of the South-West are not gullible and no amount of deception can make the region to vote for Buhari in 2019.
“Despite supporting President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015, the standard of living of an average man has continued to fall. The financial hardship in the country has led to broken homes as the situation has become worse compared to how it was before May 2015.
“Although the Federal Government claims that it has put in place various programmes, such as agriculture loans and N-power to assist Nigerians, the truth is that the majority of these initiatives are not real as a lot of people are unable to benefit from the programmes.
“The claims by the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, and Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, that the President Buhari-led administration appointed Yoruba into juicy positions have no impact on the South-West. It’s a personal gain for the appointees. We must think deep before casting our votes in 2019.”
(PUNCH)
