Yoruba Assembly Writes Osinbajo; Demands Referendum

Yoruba Assembly Writes Osinbajo; Demands Referendum

The Yoruba Assembly, an umbrella platform for all socio-political groups in the South-west, yesterday asked the federal government to consider referendum to enable nationalities constituting Nigeria decide if they still want to remain together.

Currently led by Gen. Alani Akinrinade (rtd), the assembly faulted the claim by the Progressives Governors’ Forum (PGF) that some political usurpers “are hiding under the guise of the legitimate agitation for restructuring and self-determination to destabilise the polity is totally untenable.”

These positions were expressed in a communiqué the assembly formally released yesterday after a consultative meeting it held in Lagos last Saturday, thereby calling for development-oriented governance structure for Nigeria and rejecting all attempts to sustain the 1999 Constitution.

The assembly comprises the Afenifere Renewal Group, O’dua Liberation Movement, Yoruba Council of Youth, Coalition of O’dua Self-determination Groups, O’dua Nationalist Coalition, O’dua Peoples Congress Reformed, O’dua National Congress and Agbekoya Reformed Society, among others.

In its five-page communiqué signed by all its chartered members, the assembly said it was compelled by the rising tension in the Nigerian political space to convene a consultative meeting, which was held in Lagos at the heart of the current agitation for political restructuring and self-determination.

It noted that behind the current agitation “lies the altruistic effort to establish a development-oriented and sustainable governance structure for Nigeria on the one hand and on the other hand, the objectionable attempt at sustaining Nigeria’s unitary constitution by the ruling clique that desire to permanently control the leverage of power in Nigeria for egoistic reasons.”

It affirmed that the modern concept of sustainable development “is a process that must begin with the active consultation and participation of the people – therefore the need for a referendum is imminent.”

Citing injustice and inequity arising from what it described as constitutional manipulation in Nigeria, the assembly unequivocally rejected a statement by the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, that the unity of Nigeria was not negotiable.