From Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
Ahead of the 2023 general elections, the Hausa Community in Oyo State has endorsed Vice President of Nigeria, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, for President on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The endorsement was made known on the sidelines of a three-in-one programme in honour of a former governor of the state, the late Senator Abiola Ajimobi, which were commissioning of Senator Abiola Ajimobi Resource Centre, fourth Senator Abiola Ajimobi Roundtable, entitled: ”Election Security and Good Governance’, as well as his 72nd posthumous birthday, held at the Institute for Peace and Strategic Studies(IPSS), University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo State, on Thursday.
Osinbajo was the chairman of the occasion and he also commissioned the resource centre. While the programme was ongoing, scores of Hausa Community members, led by Alhaji Yahaya Alli, had stormed venue of the programme, with a large digital banner, and local Hausa entertainers, loudly supporting Osinbajo to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari.
Alli said: “Though I am an Hausa man, I have been part and parcel of Yoruba, because I was born and bread here. So, I am more Yoruba than Hausa. I can’t express my happiness enough today because I was fortunate to be part and parcel of this gathering.
“I am here on behalf of Arewa Community in Oyo State, being their leader. His Excellency, Vice President of Nigeria, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, is a man of honour. He is a man of integrity. And he is a man that can be reckoned with. He is a trustworthy man and he is a man that we can hand over the affairs of our country into his hands. We have seen what he has done for the past seven and half years. He can do it.
“If you look at what happened between him and his principal, who is President Muhammadu Buhari, there is a kind of trust between them like two twin brothers, to the extent that whenever Baba Buhari is going outside the country for a long time, he always hands over the power of the country to him before he goes and come back.
“So, I believe that Prof Osinbajo is a kind of person that we can easily trust and that we can easily hand over power to, come 2023 by God’s grace. I know God will take over.
“On behalf of Hausa Community in Oyo State, and o behalf of Sarkin Sabo of Ibadanland, we are together with Prof Osinbajo.”