TELL Magazine

The Afenifere Renewal Group,ARG has denied endorsing President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election bid.

This followed a widely publicized media report that the group was supporting the president.

In a press statement signed by Kunle Famoriyo, its publicity secretary, the ARG described the use of its insignia to promote the said endorsement as fraudulent and an attempt to deceive Yoruba people.

“It has come to our notice that some broadcast stations are using ARG’s name and logo to promote the said endorsement. This is fraudulent and we wish to advice media houses to be wary of such fraudulent promoters especially now that public interest must be defended by the media.”

He added that ARG is not a party to the endorsement and does not in fact think the performance of President Goodluck Jonathan since May 2010 is worth the endorsement of any patriotic citizen.

“We believe there is a difference between ‘transformation,’ which President Jonathan promised Nigerians in 2011 and mere ‘reform’ of the same governance culture that Nigerians have rejected,” the ARG said.

He noted that the group does not dictate to the generality of the Yoruba people, rather it gives voice to their feelings and aspirations.

“The extensive consultations we have made showed that Yoruba people have come to a firm conclusion that they have been at the shorter end of the stick under the Jonathan-led government, under whose administration, nepotism and ethnocentrism have taken over as the emblem of our presidential politics,” the ARG said.

Famoriyo restated the demands of the group at its recent pubic lecture in Abeokuta,Ogun State, which include the call “to restructure the country in such a way that power will devolve to the most efficient federating unit.”