Some members of the Yoruba self-determination struggle, Ilana Omo Oodua, on Saturday, have dismissed the allegation of fraud levelled against the leadership of the group.
They described allegations are puerile, saying they “cannot pass a kindergarten test of empirical verification.”
The members, who addressed pressmen in Ibadan on Saturday, also rejected the resignations of the leaders of the movement, Prof Banji Akintoye and Prof. Wale Adeniran.
Octogenarian Akintoye had on December 5, 2022 tendered his resignation letter as the leader of the group, citing old age.
He announced that he was handing over to Adeniran as the movement’s new leader.
But Adeniran, also on Saturday in a YouTube video posted by Omoboriowo Media, aannounced his resignation as the new leader of Ilana Omo Oodua.
He anchored his decision on allegation of fraud and embezzlement levelled against him.
The don said he was stepping aside to allow a thorough investigation into the allegation, and called on Yoruba elders to set up a committee in that regard.
But members of Ilana Omo Oodua, led by Femi Afolabi, said on Saturday that they rejected the resignation of both Akintoye and Adeniran.
The members made this known at a media chat in Ibadan on Saturday.
Speaking for the members of the group at the media chat in Ibadan, Afolabi insisted that the duo of Akintoye and Adeniran were still recognised as the leaders of the group.
He said, “Akintoye and Adeniran have contributed immensely to the struggle and still have a lot to contribute to the actualisation of Yoruba Nation.
“We are not unaware of the campaign of calumny by some pseudo-Yoruba nationalists who are paid agents of the Fulani oligarchy to malign and destroy the hard-earned reputation of the duo based on puerile and pedestrians allegations that cannot pass a kindergarten test of empirical verification.”
He noted that the leadership quality of Akintoye enhanced his revalidation and reaffirmation as the leader of the group till date.
