2023: We Want Yoruba Referendum Not Interim Govt — Yoruba group

A socio-political organization, Yoruba Referendum Committee (Agbajoowo la fi n soya), on Sunday, called on the Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo, and Ekiti States’ Houses of Assembly to pass into Law, the Bill for a Referendum, which has already been sent to them, twice, for action, saying that the 1999 Constitution shaved the peoples’ heads in their absence. 

It urged the Houses of Assembly to rise to the occasion, especially as the demand is supported by a growing number of Yoruba who have signed the petition to that effect. 

In a by Messrs Femi Odedeyi and Shenge Rahman, the Committee noted that current suggestions by notable Yoruba individuals and organizations, advocating for a Government of National Unity or an Interim Government, “are direct means of subverting the legitimate quest for true federalism in Nigeria. It went further to argue that such a move denies the sacrosanct of the people in whom power resides but tends to arrogate power and authority to the leadership. Being the creator of the problem in the first instance, such leadership cannot be the solution.”

 Emphasizing that it is not calling for the cancellation or boycott of the 2023 elections, the Committee recalled that in 1960, “when the idea of a Government of National Unity was proposed by the Northern Peoples’ Congress, the Action Group rejected it on the ground that such a coalition government was not feasible between two political parties of vastly divergent political philosophies. It added that the Interim Government of 1993 was instituted as a half-measure to address the crisis emanating from the annulment of the June 12, 1993 elections. Because of its shaky foundation, it did not take long for the military that set it up to torpedo it.”

The statement reads: “There is no evidence till date that the political upheaval or crisis engendered by the June 12 annulment has disappeared to warrant such calls. Instead of the said crisis abating, problems of structure and power relation in the country are getting worse by the day.”

The group then maintained that the option before the Yoruba “is to organize a referendum within Yorubaland to decide the framework for their aspirations and self -actualization while also advocating a similar template for other Peoples of Nigeria to facilitate the federalization of the country.

“In advancing this course of action, the group noted that the only period of social and economic development experienced in Nigeria was during the Federal and Regional administrations, attested to by the references to the Western Region as our Golden Era by the Yoruba, and lately, the Buhari Administration’s recourse to showcasing its economic achievements via the rice pyramid – an admission of the developments in the then Northern Region as exemplified by the groundnut pyramids”.

The group further stated that despite the limitations of that period, the Western Region between 1951 and 1959 under Chief Obafemi Awolowo, was and is still recognized as the golden era which the 1960 Independence Act and the 1963 Constitution attempted to later neutralize by the virtue of their pernicious provisions. 

“Thus, the said two constitutions cannot be a foundation to build on. Instead, a new constitution that takes care of our aspirations must be fashioned out anew.