Obasanjo is a fake Yorubaman, says afenifere chieftain, Adebanjo

Chief Ayo Adebanjo, a chieftain of the pan-Yoruba socio-political organization, Afenifere, has said former President Olusegun Obasanjo cannot be described as a true Yoruba man because of his disposition to issues concerning the race.

Speaking during the public presentation of his autobiography, Telling It As It Is, in Lagos, Adebanjo who is going to clock 90 years on April 10 said the Abeokuta, Ogun State-born former president has never demonstrated love or sympathy for issues related to the development of his Yoruba stock.

“There are many incidents to show that Obasanjo is anti-Yoruba. He has no interest in, or sympathy for the Yoruba cause, he only has his own interest in everything he does. That is my conclusion, and I have copious evidence to prove it,” said Adebanjo at the event chaired by Cmdr. Ebitu Ukiwe (retd.), a former Nigeria’s military vice president.

Chief Adebanjo also blamed the former president for the collapse of Alliance for Democracy, AD, a  party which was in control of the South-west part of Nigeria from 1999 to 2003.

"As far as I am concerned, the moment Bola Ige joined Obasanjo’s government, following his (Bola Ige) loss of AD’s presidential primaries where he polled six votes against Chief Olu Falae’s 17, marked the beginning of the end of the party. In my opinion, these are the scenarios which led to the collapse of the AD,” he said.

He also said contrary to the narratives former President Obasanjo would want Nigerians to believe, his eight years tenure in government was a disaster: “The man who carried on as if he was all-in-all failed woefully on all counts as President. His eight-year tenure (1999-2007) was a tragedy. His scorecard was nothing to write home about. What did he do in eight years? Before he came, we were buying fuel for N20 per liter, and crude oil was $23 per barrel. In 2007, under his regime, we were buying fuel at N75 per liter, and crude oil was between $65 and $75 per barrel. In the worst days of Abacha, one dollar was over N120.”