Several pan-Yoruba groups have vowed to ensure that the 2023 presidential election produces a candidate that will restructure the country and resolve the lingering national question.
The groups said it would support a Yoruba presidential candidate.
They said the election would not be about the All Progressives Congress, APC, and Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, but about the people on the streets.
They warned that multiplicity of presidential candidates in Yorubaland would be counter-productive.
They said the Yoruba must make the choice of who should represent the interest of the Yoruba people at the national level and not for the candidates to impose themselves as representing the Yoruba.
“The Yoruba people must decide their presidential candidate and work genuinely for him,” the groups said.
“We wish to see the national question resolved immediately before the next election, but given the balance of strength, the presidential election may still hold without the country addressing the critical issue of self-determination. If this happens, Yorubaland will rise up to mobilise for any candidate that genuinely wants to restructure Nigeria in the first six months of the post Mohammed Buhari era,” the groups said in the communique signed by Sunday Akinnuoye, Femi Agbana and Mrs Ganiat Toriola.
The groups said consultation was on-going with other ethnic nations across Nigeria to ensure they speak with one voice during the forthcoming election.
The coalition said elections had been held by giving cash to voters which legitimized the right of the elected to look down on the voters and even turn against them.
“We have studied what happened in Latin America and in Europe lately. The people rose up and voted according to their conscience. They voted for their true representative. This seldom happens in Nigeria but in 2023, there will be a radical change. The people will speak and the world will hear them loud and clear. If a popular election is annulled or the candidate delisted, the resistance will be more than June 12.”
The group said further: “We want to assure Nigerians that the people can change the narrative of the 2023 election. This is possible. We can reignite the flame of liberty using the mass-based approach beyond political party divide.”
Groups in the coalition include Oodua Peoples Congress, Oodua Nationalist Coalition, Agbekoya, South West Students Coalition, Oodua Muslim-Christian Youth Dialogue, Oodua Liberation Movement, Oodua Self Determination Alliance, Itsekiri Salvation Front, Network of South West Vigilante, Oodua Hunters Union, Yoruba Automobile Technicians Association, South West Tailors Union, South West Professionals, and Convenant Group.
