Opinion

February 25: Why Yoruba Nation Must Vote Massively for Tinubu/Shettima, APC -By Sola Olatunji.

Ben Memuletiwon February 22, 2023

0 63 4 minutes read

The February 25 Presidential election fever is in the air. Never has there been this high level of awareness for a general election in the history of Nigeria.

The victory pendulum is, however, hovering over just three candidates amongst the 18 presidential flag bearers jostling to take over from President Muhammadu Buhari on May 29. Looking at the shadow results thus far, it is obvious that the presidential election will be a horse race between the All Progressives Congress, APC, and the People’s Democratic Party, PDP.

Since politics is about interest, my message in this piece is therefore to my kith and kin in the South-west, Nigeria who should approach the election as a challenge to the Yoruba Nation. Where does our interest lie as a people? If the North is rooting for the Tinubu/Shettima ticket to succeed, then the onus is on the Yoruba race to complement the efforts of our brothers and sisters from the North.

The Yoruba race has thousand and one reasons to pursue this Tinubu dream. Take a look at the political trajectory of the PDP as the oldest political party in Nigeria having been in existence since the Fourth Republic. They controlled government since 1999 but got defeated in 2015 by President Buhari after 16 years in power but without meaningful impact on the social landscape of the country.

If you look at the organogram of PDP today, including the presidential candidate, everything is pro-north. And the poser is ‘where is the interest of the Yoruba nation in this political party? Why should Yoruba nation be invested in a political party they don’t have a say in?

It’s an open secret that the G-5 governors are fighting for a just battle because, we can’t invest in a political party where we have no say’. It is therefore my considered opinion that Yoruba nation should not waste their votes for PDP because as it stands, the composition of the structure of PDP is not in our interest and this is too late in the day when only one section of the country will be dominating others.

LABOUR PARTY

Labour Party may be relatively old but have not shown any political relevance since the 4th Republic except during Dr Olusegun Mimiko who defected to the Party from PDP at one time and after his exit, the party went into oblivion until when Peter Obi recently defected from PDP to pick the presidential ticket of the party.

If you look at the composition of the party, it’s largely concentrated in the East so we can say without mincing words that the party is pro east and does not have wide spread coverage. So if politics is about interests, without any doubt, Yoruba nation’s interests is nowhere in Labour Party. Why then should we vote for Labour Party?

NNPP

New Nigeria People’s Party by Kwankwaso could be said to have been around as it’s presidential candidate, Kwankwaso has been around for more than two decades. But his political party is relatively unknown and does not have the vibes of other strong political parties. It’s composition is pro-north and does not protect the interest of the Yoruba race. Yoruba nation should not vote for this political party because, it will amount to wastage of votes.

APC

All Progressives Congress (APC) is apparently the most formidable political party in Nigeria today and probably the largest political party in Africa.

It’s also the ruling party and the structure of the party undoubtedly is nationalistic. If you go through the organogram of the party, it shows All Progressives Congress as the only political party in Nigeria that protects the interest of the Yoruba people. The composition of the leadership, including the presidential candidate who is also a Yoruba man should send a message across that that is where we belong.

So a vote for any other party in South-west is nothing but a betrayal of the collective interest. Giving our votes to PDP or Labour is like throwing our hard earned resources into the lagoon.

It’s therefore my sincere appeal that Yoruba people should put their block votes in All Progressives Congress, their political party and massively support the emergence of their son as the next president of Nigeria after Buhari. We should discard petit issues and vote massively for Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress, the only political party that protects the interests of Yoruba nation in Nigeria today.

Whatever Atiku Abubakar is saying today should be seen as Greek gift. His mission to restructure Nigeria should be seen as belated and another ploy to play on the collective intelligence of the good people of this country. A man who was the most powerful vice president of Nigeria at a time failed to influence restructuring policy for 16 years during PDP government. He is only daggling this restructuring carrot with one hand while holding horse whip in the other hand. Nigerians cannot be deceived any more.

Although the rival party, PDP looks national but the party has been reduced to a mere enterprise of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and a few others from the north. The South has been cut off from the party where the region has more contributions to the party.

With the renewed hope for the down trodden, the only party that protects the interests of Nigerians with nationalistic structures is the APC. It protects the interests of Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo and the minority tribes in Nigeria. APC is distinct and it’s the home of those who fought for democracy of this country. Victory for Asiwaju Bola Tinubu/Shettima on Saturday will reshape and redefine our democratic fortunes.

No other party in Nigeria can claim to be a unifier than All Progressives Congress. We are not just talking for talking sake, we walk our talk. APC, in terms of organogram is well structured to reflect national outlook of this country. Every tribe and region, including minority groups have their interest protected in our party.