A respected scholar at the University of Lagos, Prof Lekan Aribisala, has taken a swipe at the former Minister of Works, Senator Dayo Adeyeye for deluding Nigerians that the South West Agenda 2023 (SWAGA) was conceptualised to mobilise for the Presidential ambition of the former Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Aribisala, a Professor of Comparative Politics, pointedly accused Adeyeye of forming SWAGA to advance his governorship ambition in Ekiti State and not to fight Tinubu’s course as being deceptively bandied around .
The academic added that taking cognisance of the activities of SWAGA in Ekiti, that it was lucid enough for even the most gullible to discern that the group was formed with the dual invidious intentions: which are to fight Governor Kayode Fayemi and whoever he backs for Governorship and to also fight his own long-conceived and unfliable gubernatorial ambition.
Adeyeye, the National Chairman of SWAGA had overtly declared intention for Ekiti gubernatorial ambition and had been adopted as a candidate of a group considered to be SWAGA’s offshoot under the nomenclature ‘ Ekiti APC stakeholders’.
Professor Aribisala had while addressing a political gathering in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State on Friday, descended heavily on Adeyeye for cunningly hiding under SWAGA to drag Tinubu into underserved duel with Fayemi.
The scholar described Tinubu and Fayemi as Siamese twins, who can’t be separated by Adeyeye’s shenanigans and his unbridled penchant for divisive and acrimonious politics where love, cohesion, civility, intellectualism and inclusion can’t find feet and roots.
The Don told Adeyeye to be bold enough to tell Nigerians how much Tinubu had deployed in Naira and Kobo to fund the group that had by proxy be igniting troubles for the APC National Leader , who is well respected as a political tactician and lover of humanity.
The academic described Tinubu as a respected and highly venerated political tactician, who is loved by his political scions , including Governor Fayemi, urging the former Lagos State Governor and a known political enigma to distance himself from the activities of the group that is gradually becoming an albatross on his neck.
The erudite scholar added further : “To the best of my knowledge, our own Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is too cosmopolitan to associate with a group that is parading itself as fighting for a narrow agenda of a zone, the way SWAGA had been shamefully posturing around .
“Two, if Asiwaju Tinubu that we know would get any group to root for his presidential ambition, it will be one that has and enjoys national appeal, not like SWAGA that is operating from a choky cocoon tanning ember of ethnic agenda that the former Lagos State Governor will never accept, because we know his antecedents and detrabilistic nature.
“Putting it in a succint and clear fashion, SWAGA to many of us who could read between the lines was a product of hatred and venom conceptualised by Senator Adeyeye to cause dissafection between Asiwaju and his political son, Governor Fayemi.
“To shed a light on how Adeyeye was playing his card, when he wanted to declare his governorship ambition last week, he was adopted by a group of renegades that had been running SWAGA, but under another name called ‘Ekiti APC Stakeholders’. This was nothing but a mischief. Who is fooling who?
“Ekiti APC is ready to embrace all democratic norms to win the next year’s governorship election and the likes of Senator Adeyeye shouldn’t constitute a clog in the wheel of progress.
“In actual fact, nobody is scared of him because he had run out of steam with no street appeal, but dragging Tinubu into the ring with Fayemi is what we won’t tolerate.
“We all value Tinubu and his political credentials as a NADECO Chieftain where he worked alongside Governor Fayemi and others to restore democracy to Nigeria. We knew how he joined forces with others in the Southwest to popularise the Action Congress, Action Congress of Nigeria and now APC.
“It was sad that when Adeyeye was dining and wining with the devilish PDP to destroy Nigeria, Tinubu and Fayemi were on the other side working with Nigerians to salvage the nation from the PDP devourers.
“Tinubu and Fayemi had always been political allies in the trajectory of democratic struggles in Nigeria. The likes of Adeyeye and his stillbirth SWAGA can’t pit the two political giants against each other.
“So, SWAGA, which activities are only noticed in Ekiti was formed with the sole aim of fighting Governor Fayemi and pit him against his political leader. Another sinister notice behind it is to ensure that APC loses Ekiti next year, so that Adeyeye can run back to the PDP and complete his evil activities.
“SWAGA represents Adeyeye’s narrow interest. It is to fight governorship war in Ekiti and not for any other purpose”, the scholar concluded.
