Afenifere chieftains Pa Ayo Adebanjo has berated All Progressives Congress leader, Bola Tinubu, over his silence on the controversy that has greeted the Western Nigerian Security Network code-named ‘Operation Amotekun’.
Pa Adebanjo expressed his dissatisfaction with Tinubu’s silence over the issue when he spoke with The PUNCH in an interview on Saturday.
Tinubu, who is a former Lagos State governor and leading politicians in the South-West, is yet to publicly share his thoughts on Amotekun security initiative launched by the six South-West governors after almost two weeks.
The initiative generated furore and mixed reaction almost as soon as it was launched with the Federal Government and some thought leaders and interest groups in the North voicing their displeasure with the outfit while leaders of thought and the populace of the South West have shown overwhelming support for the initiative.
Tinubu’s continued silence on the matter has raised suspicion given the strong support expressed for the initiative by the majority of Yoruba leaders across political divides.
Speaking with the PUNCH, Pa Adebanjo said Tinubu was being deceived by the north that he would become the president, adding that he sold the South west to the north when he asked the people of the region to vote for president Muhammadu Buhari.
He said, “It was the likes of Tinubu that told us that the South-West would enjoy many privileges but what has the South-West benefitted from the alliance? He shouldn’t have forged an alliance with them in the first place.
“He asked the Yoruba people to vote for him (Buhari) and that things would be better. Now that they are being slaughtered and they don’t want us to have our security, you are keeping quiet all because you are being deceived that you will become the President which you will never be.
He said the Federal Government had no power to proscribe Amotekun when it had failed to provide adequate security.
The Afenifere chieftain added, “I have always told you that the Yoruba people know who their real leaders are. The problems that the Yoruba people are facing today were caused by men like Tinubu. If they had not gone to forge an alliance with Buhari, we wouldn’t be in this problem.
“The police refuse to do anything because of the President’s body language. How could they have killed the daughter of our leader (Pa Reuben Fasoranti) and there has not been a single arrest?”
Also speaking, Senator Okurounmu said Tinubu’s silence had exposed him for what he is.
Okunrounmu, who represented Ogun-Central senatorial district from 1999 to 2007, said Tinubu did not need any prodding before speaking up.
The former lawmaker said, “Tinubu doesn’t need to be prompted before speaking. We have all been speaking on the matter. Their silence is ominous. This thing was launched by the governors, not Afenifere. And such initiatives should be supported by all Yoruba people.
“Yoruba people are not idiots, we are not fools. If he doesn’t talk now, then we will know how to describe him. Nobody needs to tell us what he is. Nobody needs to call him anything. Even the illiterate man knows what he is.
“If the ordinary man on the street is in support of Amotekun, if all Yoruba people say this is what they want and he is refusing to talk, then his silence has exposed him for what he is. His silence speaks loudly.”
However, Tunde Rahman, Tinubu’s Media Adviser, said, “His Excellency, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, would not take issue with anybody on the important matter of Amotekun.
“You know he is a deeply reflective person and a deep thinker. I know that at the appropriate time he would speak on the matter. What time is appropriate is his prerogative in my view. And I think we must all grant him that indulgence.”