I warned Nigerians not to vote for Buhari in 2015, says Ayo Adebanjo

Ayo Adebanjo, acting national leader of Afenifere, a pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, says he warned Nigerians not to vote for Buhari in 2015.

Speaking in an interview on Channels Television on Wednesday, Adebanjo claimed that Buhari does not have respect for the rule of law.

The Afenifere leader was responding to a question on Buhari’s recent comment on his experience during the civil war.

On Tuesday, Buhari spoke about the civil war experience and threatened to deal with those “bent on destroying” Nigeria through “insurrection”.

“Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand,” the president had said.

Reacting to Buhari’s statement, Adebanjo queried why a democratically-elected president would threaten his “subjects” with “lessons practised during a war”.

“It is a very unfortunate statement from the president of a democratic country. I was very sad when I heard it. When I was informed, I thought it couldn’t be but I’m not surprised,” he said.

“It is those of you who voted for Buhari in 2015 that should be amazed. I warned you then that this man is a dictator. He is born a feudalist; he is trained as a dictator, and he has no respect for the rule of law.

“Can a democratic president be talking of teaching his subjects, who voted him into power, that he is going to teach them the lessons practised during a war? We are in peace time.”

‘WE CAN’T AMEND A CONSTITUTION WE DIDN’T MAKE’

The Afenifere leader argued that the 1999 constitution was imposed on Nigerians by the military government, stating that it is unnecessary to amend such constitution.

He also noted that the country should return to the 1963 republican constitution, which he said was created by the founding fathers.

“We cannot amend a constitution we didn’t make,” he said.

“When you say, ‘we the people of the federal republic’, did we make the constitution? Are we federal? Did we make the constitution? False. Are we federal? False. It was imposed on us by the military. That is the fact.”