By Tosin Olatokunbo
President Muhammadu Buhari has fired back the Northern Elders Forum over the group’s recent outburst that his administration has failed the north.
Ango Abdullahi, the leader of NEF, made up of prominent political leaders, had in a statement few days ago, warned that the state of insecurity in the region could lead to people’s revolt against the government.
The elders also blamed the state governors, and said they no longer have faith in President Buhari to save the country from bandits and terrorists because he has failed woefully.
“It would appear that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari and governors have lost control over the imperatives of protecting people of the North, a constitutional duty that they swore to uphold,” the NEF said on Saturday.
Dismissing this assertion, Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity said in a statement, that the elders have lost touch with the same northerners they are representing.
Adesina described Abdullahi as a General without troops, adding that the former Vice Chancellor and others in the forum are mere irritants and featherweights.
The presidential spokesman said the group does not understand governance.
According to the statement : “The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) in a statement Sunday signed by its so-called Convener, Prof. Ango Abdullahi, alleged that the insecurity in some northern states of the country was an indication that President Muhammadu Buhari and the governors of those states have lost control over the protection of the people which is a constitutional duty.
We are not surprised by this latest statement by Prof. Abdullahi, and our past position on what his group represents remains unchanged: a mere irritant and featherweight.”
He said the Abullahi led group has lost relevance as the representatives of the northern pople.
We are surprised that “The former vice chancellor signed the statement under the banner of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF). Hearing that title, you would think the body was a conglomeration of true elders.
But the truth is that NEF is just Ango Abdullahi, and Ango Abdullahi is NEF. It is a quasi-organization that boasts of no credible membership, and its leader is akin to a General without troops.
Before the 2019 presidential election, the one-man army called NEF had shown its antipathy against President Buhari, and its preference for another candidate. They all got beaten together,” Adesina stated.
He said further that President Buhari is more focused in leading the country than listening to the distraction of NEF, a “merely waving a flag that is at half-mast. President Buhari steadily and steadfastly focuses on the task of retooling Nigeria, and discerning Nigerians know the true state of the nation. They don’t need a paper tiger to tell them anything.”
Meanwhile, President Buhari on Sunday vowed to punish all those involved in the gun shots at the Presidential Villa on Friday during a disagreement between some security aides of the First Lady, Aisha Buhari and top presidency officials.
