Nigeria’s Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, has dismissed allegations that he is acting against the interests of the Yoruba people.
He described media reports suggesting that his legislative efforts in the National Assembly undermine Yoruba interests as baseless and false.
Bamidele emphasized that, since his election to the National Assembly, he has faithfully represented the interests of Ekiti Central, Ekiti State, the South-West, and Nigeria as a whole.
In a statement, the legislator challenged anyone who accuses him to come forward with audio or video evidence to validate their claims.
He lamented that it was wrong for some media platforms to attribute a statement to him, claiming he said, “If we allow the regional system in Nigeria, we would have automatically given the easterners Biafra.”
He denied that he ever made such a statement, saying the false allegation was an attempt to pitch him against the Yoruba and other ethnic nationalities in the federation.
The lawmaker said he never mentioned regional government in line with the 1960 and 1963 Constitution at the 27th-28th September 2024 Senate Retreat on the Review of the 1999 Constitution.
“The claim is far from the truth. I never spoke about the return to the regional government at any forum; neither did I claim that ‘If we allow the regional system in Nigeria, we would have automatically given the easterners Biafra.’
“It is a sheer case of misinformation and deliberate fake news, which do not in any way represent my worldview about federal governance structure,” Bamidele said.
Bamidele, however, warned that he would not hesitate to legally challenge any individual or establishment fabricating and circulating fake news against his person and office, insisting that there was no proposal for a regional government.
