A nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka has denied membership of the Alliance for the Defence of Democracy (ADD), a body formed to identify a consensus candidate for the next week’s presidential election.
In a statement released, yesterday, he said the clarification became important following a report by a national daily (not Daily Sun), that he was a member of the of the group.
He said: “Neither did I attend the meeting that took place at Sheraton Hotel, on Thursday, January 31, 2019. I, therefore, could not have been part of whatever resolutions agreed upon at that meeting.
“I was invited, but I did not attend. I must state, however, that I fully endorse and have encouraged the efforts of ADD and of other similar motivated groups to identify a candidate to take the battle to the two parties currently monopolising the political space, and throw up a viable challenger for the occupancy of Aso Rock. Indeed, at the meeting convened by Citizen Forum, at Freedom Park, coincidentally, on that very day and time, I took pains to inform my audience of the ongoing meeting of the ADD, and its commendable purpose. I also mentioned the meeting of yet another group in Abuja which had been holding for over two days.
“I am not a member of any Conveners’ Council or Third Force. There is cooperation among several groups and individuals on various levels, but it is essential to clarify that my interventionist role is clarified so as not to compromise my own objective preferences which will be made only after CITIZEN FORUM has concluded its own line of inquiry and guided itself accordingly. We are all collaborating, monitoring and collating preferences, acting in the same cause, aspiring to a creative and effective convergence, but in full respect for the independence of action of the various groupings.