According to the PCC spokesman, Akintoye seems to be using his old age to create discord and enmity within the polity.
By Jeffrey Agbo
The All Progressives Congress (APC) 2023 Tinubu-Shettima Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) has knocked Prof. Banji Akintoye over his threats that his group will pull the Yoruba people out of Nigeria.
Akintoye, who leads the Yoruba self-determination group Ilana Omo Oodua, had also dissociated himself from an interview he granted two years ago where he had endorsed Tinubu for 2023 presidency.
Reacting to his comments, PCC Director, Media and Publicity, Bayo Onanuga advised Akintoye to get himself engaged in more useful ventures.
“Our attention has been drawn to an unfortunate and divisive statement credited to Prof. Akintoye, in which his group threatened to pull the South-West Nigeria from Nigeria,” the PCC spokesman said.
“Since there has been no referendum held in Yorubaland about whether to stay in Nigeria or not, we presume that the separatist idea is basically Akintoye’s idea.
“We want to advise him not to plunge our people into crisis or another Rwanda.
“There was nowhere Yoruba people sat in a meeting with a mandate given to Prof. Akintoye and his band of confusionists in his so-called Ilana Yoruba Group to lead Yoruba out of Nigeria.”
He said that the APC PCC found as unwarranted, Akintoye’s accusation that the APC presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, was running for the country’s presidency to pursue his personal interest.
He explained that the former two-term Lagos State governor was contesting the country’s presidency because of his readiness to render unflinching service to Nigerians.
He said that Tinubu was in the race because of his abiding faith in a strong, united and prosperous Nigeria where all men and women could find joy and personal fulfillment, regardless of their ethnicity and religious beliefs.
“Asiwaju is contesting to be president of Nigeria because he is a nationalist, a bridge builder and a man with a clear vision to make Nigeria work for all Nigerians.
“Tinubu believes in Nigeria and its manifest greatness and he is prepared to provide the leadership required to make our country one of the greatest nations on earth.
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“We want to advise Prof. Akintoye to use the remaining part of his life to be at peace with himself and his maker instead of fanning the embers of discord,” the PCC spokesman advised.
He, however, noted that most of the issues on the structure of the country’s federalism raised in Akintoye’s statement had been sufficiently addressed in Tinubu’s action plan.
This, he said, was with his promise to address some of the problems plaguing our federalism and to make states more viable as federating units by devolving more powers to them.
He said it was inexplicable that Akintoye, who served as a Senator on the platform of the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) between 1979 and 1983, wanted to leave a legacy of hatred, bitterness, intolerance and acrimony in the country.
Onanuga said at 87 years old, Akintoye he should be a voice of reason, wisdom and stability.
According to the PCC spokesman, Akintoye seems to be using his old age to create discord and enmity within the polity.