Afenifere Endorses Peter Obi As Presidential Choice For 2023 Election

Ayo Adebanjo, an elder statesman and the head of Afenifere, has declared his political preferences ahead of the forthcoming general elections.

Adebanjo declared that he will support Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s (LP) presidential candidate, as the next president of Nigeria.

In a phone conversation with Seun Okinbaloye, the political editor of Channels Television, on Tuesday, Adebanjo confirmed his stance.

The senior statesman clarified that his choice to support the Labour Party was consistent with his opinion that the South-East ought to produce the country’s next president.

He stated that Afenifere as a whole agrees with his choice to support the Labour Party.

One of the organizations that make up the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum is the pan-Yoruba sociopolitical organization known as the Afenifere, which is chaired by Adebanjo (SMBLF).

The Middle Belt Forum, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, and the Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) are additional organizations that belong to the forum.

SMBLF has constantly demanded that when President Muhammadu Buhari’s second term ends in May 2023, a Nigerian of southern descent be elected as the country’s next leader.

It had also made appeals to several political parties in the nation, including the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), to ensure that their separate primaries would elect candidates from the South for the office of President.

Following the selection of former vice president Atiku Abubakar as the PDP’s candidate for the presidency in the upcoming elections, the SMBLF strongly criticized the party.

It called the party’s primary results “an affront” to the South’s people. Politicians from the region were urged to refuse any vice presidential candidates’ nominations.

However, the PDP presidential candidate later chose Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa to be his running mate, a decision that the SMBLF vehemently opposed.