Afenifere Backs Southern Governors On 2023 Presidency, VAT , Open Grazing

The pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has thrown it’s weight behind the southern governors on their position on Value Added Tax, open-grazing ban and power shift to the South in 2023.

The group which is led by Chief Ayo Adebanjo also insisted that the country must be restructured before the 2023 general election.

These were contained in the communique issued on Tuesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Jare Ajayi, at the end of its meeting held at Ijebu Igbo, Ogun State.

The group also lauded the establishment of Amotekun, Ebube Agu by governors in the South-West and South-East while calling on every community to be on the alert to defend themselves against bandits.

The communique read, “It is a known fact that Afenifere strongly stands by the southern governors in their resolution on anti grazing laws, on Value Added Tax and on a person of Southern extraction becoming the President of Nigeria in 2023.

“We note with delight, the court judgment that empowers the states to collect VAT. We urge state governments to further explore more areas to deepen democracy and enhance the frontier of true federalism in Nigeria.

“We commend the steps taken by governors of the South West on the establishment of security networks like Amotekun and that of the South East on Ebube Agu. We urge the national authorities to let these security networks be transformed into states police forces. We strongly believe that doing so will arrest the pace at which Nigeria is fast descending into a state of anomie.”

The group said terrorism and kidnapping had been on the increase because of the kind of treatment being given to the criminals who had made life unbearable to several millions of Nigerians.

“The meeting took notice of President Muhammadu Buhari’s address at the United Nations especially where he called for the reform of the world body and his recommendation of dialogue to resolve Palestinian/Israeli issues.

“Afenifere enjoins the President to key into restructuring that it (Afenifere) has been advocating as restructuring is similar to the reform that the President wants to see at the UN.

” In the same vein, the dialogue our President recommended for Israel and Palestine is not different from the meeting with ethnic nationalities and other stakeholders in Nigeria that we have been advocating for. With the President stating his positions on these issues on the global arena, it is hoped that he would give a nod for them to be immediately effected in Nigeria.