Yorubas Can’t Afford another Interregnum, Say Afenifere, Ashafa
Canvass support for Ambode, Ajimobi, Amosun
The Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG) and the Senator-elect in Lagos East senatorial district, Senator Gbenga Ashafa, yesterday said the Yorubas cannot afford another interregnum, the type that set the region back between 2003 and 2011.
They therefore urged the voters in the three states of the South-west where governorship elections would hold on Saturday to vote the candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) more than they did during the presidential election.
They expressed these views in two separate statements the group’s National Chairman, Hon. Olawale Oshun and Ashafa personally signed, asking the South-west people “to reject strange leadership in Lagos, Ogun and Oyo States.”
In his statement, Oshun endorsed the APC governorship candidate in Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, his Oyo counterpart, Senator Abiola Ajimobi and that of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun for the April 11 elections.
The group said the voting pattern during the election is a warning that “never again will Yoruba people condone a central government that aims to suppress our developmental ambition - as a people and region.
“ARG therefore enjoins Yoruba people to continue to be progressive minded in act and in thought. This value must reflect in our action on April 11, 2015, as we vote en masse for gubernatorial and Houses of Assembly candidates that best represent our perennial aspiration for development.
“Yoruba land cannot afford another interregnum - the type that set us back between 2003 and 2011. To this extent, we commend for your adoption of Ambode, Amosun and Ajimobi. ARG is convinced that the current renaissance of good governance, developmental strides and welfare policies that has commenced in our land, can only continue, be sustained and flourish under these candidates.”
In another statement, Ashafa declared that the APC governorship candidates would poll the highest number of votes with a wide margin, adding that the party’s political machinery on ground in Lagos State “is fit enough to return the party to the Alausa seat of power come April 11.”
Ashafa dwelt on certain core specifics – with regards to how and why the APC deserved “to win the governorship elections – noting that Lagos and its cosmopolitan outlook had always provided other states with a template to replicate developmental strides.
“Of particular mention were transportation, sound governance policies, infrastructure, healthcare, effective environmental management, civil service efficiency, commending the Fashola administration for running full course and surpassing the achievements of his predecessor, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“The only way to go is with a template that is working. Akinwunmi Ambode will continue the good work and uphold the APC legacy of change. A man with Ambode’s record of service is to be treasured. We do not need to re-invent the wheel here.
“Fortunately, the days of unseen transformation are over. The electorate have become more enlightened and this is good for democracy. The PDP leadership at the centre has said that the party needs to find itself again and plan for the future, following the defeat of President Jonathan. I think the PDP in Lagos should heed this advice also. 2015 in Lagos is for the APC.”