The Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams, has cautioned Governor Bello Mohammed Matawalle of Zamfara State against pitching the North against the South.
Recall that Matawalle had alleged that Northerners were being killed in the South and that such should stop to prevent a reprisal in the Northern part of the country.
Reacting to the allegation, Adams denied the claim made by the governor, saying that the people of SouthWest have never attacked Northerners in the region.
The Yoruba chieftain urged the governor to stop heating the polity, describing the statement as unfortunate and inflammatory.
Adams also asked Northern leaders to call the governor to order, adding that he should not use the issue of ethnicity to play politics.
The OPC founder said that Northerners who are doing their legitimate businesses are free to run their businesses in the South-West without any form of attack, asserting that nobody would attack any person who is not a criminal in Yorubaland.
He, however, warned the governor to desist from using the issue of ethnicity to pacify the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) where he wants to decamp to.
Adams counselled that Matawalle should calmly walk into APC and should not overheat the polity just because he wants to be given leeway in 2023.
He said: “Well, I think the governor should know that we Southerners, especially the South-Westerners, have never attacked Northerners in our region.
“Northerners who are doing their legitimate businesses are free to run their businesses here in the South-West; nobody will attack any person who is not a criminal in the South-West, even the criminal must not even be attacked in the South-West, we hand them over to the police. So I don’t know where the governor is getting the information from.
“So I am speaking on behalf of the South-West, the Yoruba people have never attacked Northerners who are doing their lawful and legitimate businesses, and I don’t think anybody who is mature as a governor can make that kind of statement. So, Northern leaders should call the governor to order, that he should not use the issue of ethnicity to play politics.”
