The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) at a press conference on the state of the nation held in Zaria stated that President Muhammadu Buhari had failed to secure and pilot the affairs of the Nigerian nation.
Prof. Ango Abdullahi, NEF Chairman; Ambassador Yahaya Kwande, Deputy National Chairman of NEF, Alhaji Bello Kirfi (Wazirin Bauchi), Air Marshal Alamin Daggash (retd.) former Chief of Defence Staff, Abdullahi Usman, Secretary of the Coalition of Northern Group among others were northern key stakeholders present at the forum.
Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed who was a former secretary of the nation’s electoral body, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) while reading the statement at the press conference said that President Buhari who is from the northern part of the country did not only fail the north but the entire nation, based on assessment of his leadership methodology. Emphasizing on the state of security, the Northern Elders Forum stated that, “The forum demands a thorough overhaul of the leadership of our security and public safety agencies, and the injection of higher levels of competence, integrity and accountability in the manner our troops and the police and security agencies deal with security challenges.”
The NEF went further to state that “The relationship between insecurity and poverty is fundamental, but the administration does not appear to have any idea on what will provide relief or solution.”
“It is shocking that in spite of unprecedented consensus among Nigerians that the administration requires a new resolve, approach and leadership in the fight against the nation’s multiple security challenges, President Buhari appears either totally isolated or in deep denial over the result of his failures to secure Nigerians; with this type of mindset, it is difficult to see how President Buhari can accept the challenge to radically improve his handling of our security situation,” they stated.
“Nonetheless, we believe that Nigerians must continue to raise our voices and organize through all legitimate means to demand that the administration address major failings in his perception of our situation and his response to our demands for our rights to security,” they concluded.
