OPC endorses Tinubu, vows to mobilise support for 2027

By Adekunle Williams

The O’odua People’s Congress (OPC) has endorsed President Bola Tinubu’s bid for a second term in the 2027 presidential election.

The endorsement was made on Saturday in Lagos during activities marking the organisation’s 32nd Founders Day and the inauguration of its new National Executive Council (NEC).

The OPC also pledged to mobilise support for Tinubu in 2027, recalling its contribution to his emergence as President in the 2023 election.

The group’s re-elected President, Mr Wasiu Afolabi, said the organisation would remain committed to supporting a Yoruba person occupying the nation’s highest political office.

“We contributed our quota to ensuring the victory of Tinubu in 2023. One lesson from Fasehun is that the organisation should regard any Yoruba man in office as OPC’s corporate project.

“As a result of this orientation that our founder gave us, and if the right atmosphere is created, we shall still queue behind President Tinubu for the 2027 presidential election.

“We also urge the other regions to support the President’s second-term bid to help him perfect the visionary reforms he has embarked upon.

“The North especially, should realise that it is payback time for the backing that Tinubu gave to late president Muhammadu Buhari’s two tenures of eight years.”

Afolabi also used the occasion to reflect on the circumstances surrounding the establishment of the OPC on Aug. 29, 1994.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the organisation was founded by a group of Yoruba nationalists and activists led by Fasehun, a medical doctor and human rights campaigner.

Recalling the organisation’s origins, Afolabi said the OPC emerged during a period of severe political tension in the country.

“Some 32 years ago when Dr. Frederick Fasehun took the initiative to establish OPC, it was to fulfil a divine assignment.

“OPC was born as a child of necessity.”

He said the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, won by the late Chief Moshood Abiola, had fuelled anger among Nigerians, particularly in the South-West.

According to him, the military government’s action amounted to an affront to millions of voters who had backed Abiola at the polls.

Afolabi called on the Federal Government, state governors and legislators at both national and federal levels to treat the country’s challenges as a national emergency by implementing policies and programmes capable of improving the welfare and security of citizens.

“The leaders must remember that the Nigerian Constitution they all swore to uphold says in Section 14(2)(b) that the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.”

On insecurity, he offered the organisation’s support to government security agencies in tackling the problem, particularly in the South-West.

“We are ready to partner with relevant government agencies to secure the South-West from enemies within and enemies from outside.”

Afolabi also appealed to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies to remain impartial during the 2027 elections and ensure that every legitimate vote was counted.

Speaking at the event, the Chairman of the occasion and Chairman of the OPC Board of Trustees, Mr Wale Oshun, described the organisation as an important part of Nigeria’s democratic struggle following the annulment of the June 12 election.

Oshun said the continued existence of the organisation, eight years after the death of Fasehun, represented a strong testament to the founder’s vision.

NAN reports that hundreds of OPC members attended the anniversary celebration, which also featured the inauguration of the new NEC and the endorsement of Tinubu for a second presidential term.

(NAN)