Northern Elders Forum, Mere Irritant And Featherweight – Presidency

BY VICTOR BUORO, ABUJA – The Presidency has described the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) as a mere irritant and featherweight.

It also said that the NEF is a quasi-organization that boasts of no credible membership, stressing that its leader is akin to a General without troops.

The NEF in a statement on Sunday by its Convener, Prof. Ango Abdullahi, said 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.

But in a swift reaction, the Presidency in a statement by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina said that it is not surprised by the latest statement by Prof. Abdullahi.

Adesina said; “and our past position on what his group represents remains unchanged: a mere irritant and featherweight.

“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.”

The spokesman of the President noted that before the 2019 presidential election, “the one-man army called” NEF had shown its antipathy against President Buhari, and its preference for another candidate, adding that, “They all got beaten together.”

Adesina further said; “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,” he concluded.