Interim National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Adebisi Akande, has chastised those attempting to seek political office on the platform of defunct Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) in 2015 as engaging in illegality.
Akande told newsmen in his country home, Ila-Orangun in Osun State, that the resuscitation of UPN as a political party would require an Act of Parliament because it was abolished or proscribed by a military decree which is a law and it requires an Act of Parliament to unban the party.
Akande also foreclosed the possibility of reviving the Pan Yoruba Socio-Cultural Group, “Afenifere,” saying that the soul of Afenifere died with its founder, the late Chief Bola Ige.
It will be recalled that Chief Fredrick Faseun and others are working assiduously to resuscitate UPN as a political party to contest for political office in the 2015 elections.
But Akande insists that UPN is not among the political parties in the record of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
He said: “It is illegal party as of now and so Fasheun is a leader of an illegal party called UPN. Frederick Fasheun has always been my friend but I have not seen him in person for about five years. I read about him in the newspapers but I don’t think that UPN can become political party without an Act of Parliament because UPN was abolished or proscribed by a military decree which is a law and it requires an Act of Parliament to unban it. So, Fasheun is a leader of an illegal party called UPN.”
On the resuscitation of Afeneifere as a socio-political group, Chief Akande said that Afenifere died with Bola Ige’s death.
His words: “I know that Afenifere was formed in Bola Ige’s home and at the beginning we were alternating the leadership or the chairmanship between Bola Ige and Alhaji Lateef Jakande. And when we found out that it was not good enough, we persuaded the two of them to join hands to let late Chief Michael Adekunle Ajasin lead Afenifere. And they all worked very hard to see Afenifere expand under Baba Ajasin.
So, that is why I said Bola Ige was the soul of Afenifere and that is why when he died the soul disappeared and Afenifere became dead.
“Afenifere was already dead then but it was Afenifere Renewal Group that we have now. You know, circumstances gave birth to the cultural group or ethnic national group. It was the circumstance of the military that gave birth to Afenifere, and the soul of Afenifere’s birth is given by Bola Ige. When Bola Ige died, Afenifere died with him.
“So, I won’t promise you that we can revive Afenifere. It was when Afenifere was unable get death certificate that Afenifere Renewal Group sprang up. The circumstance has come again for the Yoruba people to join other nationalities to form APC. When APC wins the presidency and all over the states in Yoruba land, you will see all these men would disappear.
“The only thing I can do is to work hard as I am doing in my old age, and I will continue to work hard to represent the interest of Yoruba people and the interest of common people all over the Nigeria, and that was the only thing we can do to bring unity among Nigerians.”
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