Kemi Olaitan in Ibadan
Yoruba leaders under the aegis of South-west Development Stakeholders Forum (SWDSF), yesterday said they would not persuade the people of the region to vote for any presidential candidate during the February 25 election.
The leaders, who said this during the presentation of report and documentary of presidential parleys, the group made in Ibadan to journalists, noted that they were not working for any of the candidate that would participate in this Saturday’s presidential election.
The SWDSF had between January 17 and February 4, 2023, organised a parley with presidential candidates of political parties that will contest in the poll.
The Chairman of the group, Chief Alao Adedayo, while presenting the report, said five out of the seven presidential candidates invited for the parley showed up.
According to him, they are: Alhaji Kola Abiola of Peoples Redemption Party (PRP); Mr. Omoyele Sowore, African Action Congress(AAC); Prince Adewole Adebayo, Social Democratic Party (SDP); Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwakwanso, New Nigerian People’s Party (NNPP) and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
He said Mr. Peter Obi of Labour Party (LP) could not make it to the venue of the presidential parley on Saturday, February 4, 2023, because of pockets of protests against naira scarcity in Ibadan on the day, disclosing that Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, of the All Progressives Congress (APC) came to Ibadan, but did not show up for the parley
Adedayo insisted that the main focus of the group was the development of the Southwest geo-political zone, and not interested in politics, noting that SWDSF used the parleys to provide a platform for people of the region to make assessment of the presidential candidates by themselves and make rational choice in the poll.
“We want to serve as a link between South-west people and whoever emerges in this Saturday’s presidential election,” he said.
He then revealed that SWDSF comprises over 50 separate social and economic groups that have entrenched interest in the development of the South-west region.
