The Presidency has dismissed remarks by the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) that President Muhammadu Buhari and governors of some northern states have failed in their constitutional duty to protect Nigerians.
The NEF said this in a statement on Sunday signed by its Convener, Prof. Ango Abdullahi, the text of which was read by Hakeem Baba Ahmed.
NEF’s statement followed killings in Borno and Katsina states by insurgents and bandits.
The group said it had warned Nigerians in the run up to the 2019 election against reelecting Buhari because he had showed no capacity to deliver.
But the Presidency, in a statement by presidential spokesman Femi Adesina, said “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.”
It added that “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 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.”
