The crisis rocking the Pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, over its leadership tussle took a twist on Saturday as the Chief Ayo Adebanjo-led faction insisted that its leadership structure remained unchanged.
This is against the backdrop of an earlier announcement by Pa Reuben Fasoranti’s faction that the position of acting Leader occupied by Adebanjo has been scrapped.
It will be recalled that the 95-year-old, Fasoranti on March 21, stepped down as the national leader of the association, citing old age as the major reason for the decision while also announcing Adebanjo as the acting national leader.
However, prior to the 2023 general election, crisis erupted in the group after the Fasoranti’s faction pitched a tent with the then-presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, now President Bola Tinubu against the position of Adebanjo, who supported the Labour Party’s candidate, Peter Obi.
Although Adebanjo had earlier backed his decision on the grounds of fairness, insisting it was not the turn of the Yorubas, the Igbo to be President, Pa Fasoranti, endorsed Tinubu during a visit to his residence by the then-APC candidate, a decision that led to the fallout between both leaders.
On Wednesday, Fasoranti’s faction of Afenifere in a communique issued at the end of their monthly meeting announced the scrapping of Adebanjo’s position as acting leader, while it formed another group named as Afenifere Elders Caucus.
Although it stated that Adebanjo remained a member of the group, his position was abrogated.
Reacting in an interview recently, the National Publicity Secretary, Gboyega Adejumo, insisted that Adebanjo remained the leader of the association, saying the “General Assembly made him the leader.”
He said, “No, he (Adebanjo) is not acting, he is the leader. The General Assembly made him the leader. And the General Assembly is the most powerful organ of Afenifere. We have the General Assembly, the Caucus, and the Excos and none of them is with pa Fasoranti.
“We are meeting in Ogbo on Tuesday, the country home country of pa Adebanjo. We will be having our normal meeting. In the meeting we had yesterday, we didn’t discuss these Akure people because it was not our while. We are above that.
Asked why both leaders could not call a truce and end faction in Afenifere, he said, “It can only be factionalised because of those who simply want to make means; who are lured; who are only for personal aggrandisement, people who only want positions. They have the list that they have taken to Tinubu. This is why it is factionalised.”
