Prior to the election, the leadership of the group were divided over the candidates for the election as Fasoranti and some other leaders of the Afenifere supported Tinubu while the National Leader of the association, Pa Ayo Adebanjo, backed the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi .
After Tinubu was declared the winner of the poll, Fasoranti sent a congratulatory message to Tinubu but the Adebanjo’s group, in a meeting held recently, condemned the outcome of the presidential election, declaring that Obi won the election.
However, Arogbofa, in a statement issued on Saturday, said the position of Fasoranti on Tinubu’s victory was the position of the Afenifere. The statement was titled, ‘On some reactions by some Afenifere members on the presidential victory of Sen. Bola Ahmed Tinubu.’
The statement read, “Chief Dr R.F. Fasoranti, is still alive and kicking. By the Afenifere tradition, he is still the leader of Afenifere. We defer to him in line with our cherished Yoruba culture. So, whatever any other member says or does is immaterial, after he has spoken or acted.”
“In an interview, I acknowledged that some members were foisting Peter Obi as presidential candidate on us, I did say Afenifere members are not robots. They are made up of intelligent people with strong convictions but occasional divergent views. That notwithstanding, they are bound together by the welfare philosophy of the association. On any contentious issue, they come together as democrats the discuss and agree on a consensus. While the consensus becomes their public stand view, those who disagree are still allowed to keep their views without necessarily making them an opposition position to the majority decision.
“I concluded by saying if elections will hold in 2023, most Afenifere members and by extension the right-thinking, accommodating and unbiased Yoruba ethnic group who are in the silent majority will vote Tinubu.”
He added, “On March 3, 2023, Chief R.F Fasoranti sent a very warm congratulatory letter, on our behalf and himself, to Sen. Bola Ahmed Tinubu on his hard-won victory in the February 25, 2023 presidential election. That was done in line with the well-known Afenifere practice. This is where Afenifere stands. ‘The oracle has acted and spoken.’ Any person or group that may see things differently is free to do so as he is free to exercise his liberty.”
