Re: Bulletin 29: Congratulations, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu
Despite the moves to defenestrate the APC leadership from its support base through the cash-swap policy coupled with a scarcity of fuel in the period leading to the Presidential and National Assembly elections, peace and order eventually prevailed. With resilience and determination, the APC Presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, appealed to party supporters to eschew bitterness and violence and ensure they voted in the elections, while other major candidates acquiesced in the cruel implementation of those policies.
The major reasons given for the implementation of the policy at the time include the necessity to reduce monetization of the elections while APC Governors exposed that role of some “elements” or cabal within the administration to use those policies to destroy the credibility and electability of the APC as a party, in general, and the Presidential/Vice Presidential candidates, in particular.
Despite these impediments, the elections held, the sure and swift process adopted by INEC in attending to the announcement of results, despite some hiccups experienced during the process, put paid to fears of any cancelation reminiscent of the “June 12” crisis which turned Nigeria into the arena of authoritarianism, a potential “Déjà Vu” for the Yoruba. It is on record that Asiwaju Tinubu and others spent their time and resources to dismantle that state of affairs introduced in 1993, thereby ensuring the return to democratic governance in 1999.
It is therefore meet for the Yoruba Referendum Committee to, without prejudice to other Yoruba organizations and individuals, join Afenifere, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, and the entire Peoples of Nigeria in congratulating the APC and other well-meaning Nigerians on the electoral victory of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Senator Kashim Shettima as the President and Vice president-elect of Nigeria respectively.
Afenifere, in a statement by its Leader, Pa Reuben Fasoranti, asked Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to "be fair to all concerned, unite the country, see and treat the country as one, be a Federalist, allow the big ethnic groups to exist and respect one another, allow the small ones to feel proud and wanted in the spirit of Federalism, tackle insecurity, solve our economic downturn, Restructure the country, and rebuild a nation never so badly divided on ethnic, religious and corrupt lines.” On his part, Governor Akeredolu emphasized the need to engage the Federal government on ensuring that the Nigerian State is administered to its acclaimed Federal status.
The election of Asiwaju as President is therefore a call to action on our part in ensuring Re-Federalizing Nigeria. This is more so when the APC itself had made True Federalism a part of its Manifesto and established a Committee on it under the Chairmanship of Governor El-Rufai of Kaduna State.
Governor El-Rufai and other governors were instrumental in ensuring a power shift to the South in the run-up to APC’s primaries just as El-Rufai was also a vocal opponent of the “cash-swap” policy, thereby strengthening the resistance to it. Governor El-Rufai stated the following, as the reason for their actions: “We are Northern Nigerians. We are proud of our humble origins and remarkable history. We are a civilized and cultured people. Our word is our bond. We keep our promises. Agreements with us need not be in writing. Those that don’t observe these are either not real Northerners or rootless prodigal sons whether they are youths or elders.”.
The Yoruba Referendum Committee recognizes the role played by the dominant political forces in each geo-political Region of Nigeria as determinants of political responses of or from the Regions. Therefore, it can be concluded that the only effective driver of the Yoruba towards Re-Federalization/Restructuring must be situated within the dominant partisan political party, the APC.
It is within this context that the Yoruba Referendum Committee wishes to remind Afenifere and Governor Akeredolu of the “Yoruba Referendum” as the means of engaging Yoruba people towards Re-Federalizing Nigeria. The Bill for the Referendum has been submitted to the Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo, and Ekiti State Houses of Assembly to be passed into Law.
As the recent experiences show, monetization, vote buying, etc. during elections are political questions that cannot be resolved by mopping up cash in circulation at every election cycle but by a determined political change anchored on the existential prerogatives of the people as also made obvious by Governor El Rufai
This, among others, is why the Yoruba Referendum provides the pathway towards Re-Federalizing Nigeria. It also becomes the pathway to be domesticated by other Peoples of Nigeria based on their political circumstances.
While wishing Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Senator Kashim Shettima, and their team well in pursuit of the “Renewed Hope for Nigeria,”, the Yoruba Referendum Committee simultaneously says that it is a season of “Renewed Hope” for Re-Federalizing Nigeria anchored on the wishes and aspiration of the various Peoples of Nigeria as the Federating Units.
Editorial Board,
Yoruba Referendum Committee