Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
The Presidency has described the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) as a general without troop for saying that President Muhammadu Buhari has failed the nation in tackling the security challenges facing the country.
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, in a statement said the form is a quasi-organization that boasts of no credible membership, aside the one that signed the statement, Prof. Ango Abdullahi.
The statement read:
“Professor Ango Abdullahi on Sunday signed a long-winding statement on many issues relating to the North, and purportedly to the country.
“The former vice chancellor signed the statement under the banner of 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 Muhammadu Buhari, and its preference for another candidate. They all got beaten together.
“NEF is 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.”
In a statement, Prof. Ango Abdullahi after a meeting in Zaria, Kaduna State, yesterday, had dismissed the Buhari-led administration as incompetent. It claimed the incumbent administration has failed Nigeria, especially in tackling the economic and security challenges.
It said it would only support candidates with genuine commitment to deal with its problems and political will to meet the region’s aspirations by 2023..
“The forum has observed that political maneuvers around the 2023 elections are targeting the North as a region available for exploitation. We want to make it clear that people of the North will be very careful in committing to persons seeking their support on the basis of their region or wealth.
“The North knows its interest and will stand together to elect only persons who meet the standards and interests of the people of the North.”